11-26-2018, 11:56 AM
BUT HOW COULD YOU KNOW THE SWEETEST SUFFERING
OF MOVING ON
OF MOVING ON
The boy has a look of recognition, even with a body of a dragon. There is a brightness in his eyes – happiness, even – but Tiphon struggles to fathom a reason. Admittedly, his heart is drumming when he watches the dragon become airborne before alighting heavily on the sand again, closer. With desperate focus, he remains steadfast with a watchful stare. His expression of concern ignites when their muzzles touch, a look of familiarity caressing the shifter’s face. ”Sabrael,” he echoes the name, hoping to rattle or lure closer a memory that has been lost, but there is nothing but disappointment reading across Tiphon’s face. ”Not again,” he whispers more to himself as he takes a solemn, dragging step away. The touch had been one between family, one in which he had forged decades ago perhaps.
His return could have been painless, could have been easier, if no one recognized him.
First Wallace, now Sabrael – his own grandson.
There is no methodical way for Tiphon to conceal how his heart rattles painfully. A breath catches in his throat and his molten eyes plummet to the ground in shame. Grandma, he hears, but Tiphon cannot even grasp a name as to whom that would be. Someone he coupled with. He had children, grandchildren. Maybe even great grandchildren.
It takes a few moments before he can bring himself to look Sabrael in the face again, a look of hurt smeared across his face. ”I’m so sorry,” this is almost déjà vu, but with someone else to whom he apologizes. It isn’t Wallace this time, but he knows that she is nearby. ”I remember nothing, no one.” The undertone of self-loathing cannot be missed as it weighs his words down heavily. It’s eating away at him until Tiphon seizes his own mind and thoughts, clutching them in a balled fist so that his emotions can be checked.
With a heavy sigh, he straightens himself. His eyes close for a moment, but when they open, they level on Sabrael softly. ”My grandson,” his heart patters happily at the word, ”I will need you to tell me everything you know. Tell me and remind me of the memories I’ve lost,” he pauses then adds before Wallace joins them, ”Please.”
By the time their company expands, Tiphon has quieted. He holds his gaze for another heartbeat, then his attention drifts to Wallace as she dreamily steps forward. ”Ischian Prince?” It doesn’t register at first, but then his head shakes and he is suppressing his personal shame again, holding it back from surfacing. ”I was the beginning of a legacy in Ischia?” Wallace had mentioned he led with two others when the island sprouted from the sea, and now he hears of his grandson being a prince. Glancing between them, he cannot help to ask, ”What happened to our family in Ischia?” It will likely be a painful truth, but at this point, what isn’t?
His return could have been painless, could have been easier, if no one recognized him.
First Wallace, now Sabrael – his own grandson.
There is no methodical way for Tiphon to conceal how his heart rattles painfully. A breath catches in his throat and his molten eyes plummet to the ground in shame. Grandma, he hears, but Tiphon cannot even grasp a name as to whom that would be. Someone he coupled with. He had children, grandchildren. Maybe even great grandchildren.
It takes a few moments before he can bring himself to look Sabrael in the face again, a look of hurt smeared across his face. ”I’m so sorry,” this is almost déjà vu, but with someone else to whom he apologizes. It isn’t Wallace this time, but he knows that she is nearby. ”I remember nothing, no one.” The undertone of self-loathing cannot be missed as it weighs his words down heavily. It’s eating away at him until Tiphon seizes his own mind and thoughts, clutching them in a balled fist so that his emotions can be checked.
With a heavy sigh, he straightens himself. His eyes close for a moment, but when they open, they level on Sabrael softly. ”My grandson,” his heart patters happily at the word, ”I will need you to tell me everything you know. Tell me and remind me of the memories I’ve lost,” he pauses then adds before Wallace joins them, ”Please.”
By the time their company expands, Tiphon has quieted. He holds his gaze for another heartbeat, then his attention drifts to Wallace as she dreamily steps forward. ”Ischian Prince?” It doesn’t register at first, but then his head shakes and he is suppressing his personal shame again, holding it back from surfacing. ”I was the beginning of a legacy in Ischia?” Wallace had mentioned he led with two others when the island sprouted from the sea, and now he hears of his grandson being a prince. Glancing between them, he cannot help to ask, ”What happened to our family in Ischia?” It will likely be a painful truth, but at this point, what isn’t?
TIPHON
STARLACE AND INFECTION
@[Wallace] @[Sabrael]