T A L O N
Rickter…
Please do not leave me…
I love you…
“Talon?” Talon’s eyes opened. He squinted his eyes as he was momentarily blinded by light shining overhead. His whole body ached and he felt as though he were coming out of a fog. Blinking a few times his vision focused. In front of him was a youthful looking man with sun bronzed skin and dark black hair. The man’s eyes were the same silver as his own and in his face, Talon felt an echo of recognition. The man was staring at him with a mix of fondness and sadness. As soon as the haze in his head cleared, Talon knew immediately who he was staring at.
“Arcas?” Talon was gently helped to his feet. He swayed slightly but was steadied as Arcas offered him a reassuring arm. Talon flinched. His chest felt heavy. He felt an aching weariness tugging at him. In his heart he felt as though he wanted to cry but the tears would not come. There was something painfully familiar about the feeling inside of him.
“Where are we?” Talon looked around. They stood within a breezy chamber. Talon looked behind him to see that he had been laying upon a soft bed that was open to the air. A spacious hall of immaculate mosaic tiles in varying shades of white, silver and blue stretched out ahead of him. The architecture was not a style that Talon had ever seen before. Sunlight gently filled the space, winding its way down, practically seeking both himself and Arcas out. It warmed his body and chased away the chill of a vaguely remembered nightmare. Arcas warm hands brushed across his bare torso, sending the last remnants of the cold away as he was helped to step forward. He expected the tiles to be cool beneath his feet but they were warm. He looked back to Arcas. The demigod met his gaze before looking around them.
“Somewhere I have not been in a long, long time.” Arcas was looking upon their surroundings with a profound longing and a serenity that made Talon’s heart ache to see it. The demigod banished whatever shadow had fallen over his thoughts and stretched out an arm motioning for Talon to follow him. In silence he followed Arcas. He was surprised to find that the two of them shared the same stature. The same height, the same build, Arcas even had the same markings upon his body as Talon did, right down to the exact same scars from what he could see. It was surprising.
“It should not be.” There was amusement in Arcas deep voice. It took a moment before Talon realized that the demigod had read his mind.
“Why?” Arcas came to a stop and turned to face him. He reached up and touched his hand to Talon’s chest, directly over his heart. He took one of Talon’s hands and placed it upon his chest. Beneath his palm, Talon could feel Arcas heart beating. Steady and strong. For a moment, nothing happened but after a minute Talon realized that their hearts were beating in tune with one another. As his heart increased in rhythm, so did Arcas. When Arcas heart calmed, so did Talon’s.
“We are one, you and I. More so now than before.” There was a peace in Arcas voice, in his face, and in his words that stunned Talon.
“One? Arcas…please. I am…I feel…” Talon shook his head.
“You crossed the threshold, Talon.” It hit him then. The words sunk in. Talon’s mind flooded with the memories of everything that he had suffered.
A gunshot like thunder that struck down the life of his father.
The sight of his bondmate, his beloved, his husband, being taken down and dragged off as a prisoner.
The absolute fury that had filled him as he unleashed a wrath so pure that it had reduced to ash every foe in his wake.
And then Rickter.
Rickter…sorumeito…
It was gone. The bond with Rickter was gone. Talon could not feel it. That startling realization hit him like a train. He let out a pained groan low in his throat. Like a wounded animal as his legs gave out beneath him. He curled in on himself, letting out a choked sob. He fell to the floor, his wings drooping behind him, his whole body shivering as he struggled to contain the emotional agony of all that smashed into his waking mind. When finally it was too much, Talon let out a broken cry that echoed off the walls of where they were. He did not know what else to do. Gone. Everything was gone. The life he had known was gone. All of it. He felt Arcas touch his shoulder in an effort to comfort him. Anger snapped through Talon and he jerked back.
“Get back!” He looked up at Arcas, bitter hurt and pain suffusing every part of him. “You! Every part of this leads back to you! You and whatever stupid machinations you have been playing at!”
Talon shot to his feet. His wings flared out as his anger climbed higher.
“You used me.” Arcas looked at him steadily. The demigod shook his head.
“Talon--” Talon barked it out again.
“You used me!” Again Arcas shook his head.
“No, we--” Talon shouted at the top of his lungs, unable to contain his anger anymore.
“YOU USED ME!” He was leaning forward, practically ready to tackle Arcas and unleash his pain and anger upon the demigod. His shout echoed off of the walls. His chest was heaving. Ever since that first meeting with Andrus, Talon had so many questions spinning in his head.
“That is what you do, is it not? Across the ages? Jumping upon one soul to the next in order to continue your endless war with Shaeoth!? You think I am blind to what has been happening to me? With every step I took, with every day I embraced this mantle, I could feel myself slipping away. Memories from the others, from all of them, pushing through to the surface! Always the same! Always pushing us to fight an evil that you failed to defeat!” Talon was practically spitting; he was so furious. Arcas merely stood there, staring steadily at him.
“We are nothing to you! Puppets for you to take over when we are most vulnerable! A suit of armor made from flesh and bone to fight your war! Filling our head with this fake sense of destiny, like we were chosen to be greater and bring Justice, Light and Hope to the world! You care nothing for any of that! You care nothing for anyone but yourself!” With every shout, Talon’s eyes blurred more and more with tears of anger, frustration, pain, sorrow, and confusion.
“I had a family, Arcas! I had a life! Does any of that mean anything to you!? Now, when I am at my lowest, when I have lost EVERYTHING, you drag me to here!? When does it end!? When do the people I love stop suffering for the mistakes of your past!?” Talon was heaving. His chest ached. All of it was gone. His mind was spinning with the ache of everything that had transpired in rapid succession.
“You stole my life from me! YOU STOLE ME!” Talon turned and in a fit of rage, he threw his fist into the nearest column, punching the solid stone, cracking it completely. Cracks spread outward until they reached from the middle of the column all the way up to the ceiling. He stood there for a moment, fist embedded into the stone before drawing back. Arcas stepped toward him. Talon moved to step outside of the hall. He looked over his shoulder as he walked outside.
“Stay away from me.” Spreading his wings, Talon walked into the sunlight, blinded by the brightness of it for a moment before his eyes adjusted. He took off at a sprint before leaping into the air. He had no idea where he was or where he would go. But he was going to go somewhere.