[mature] how time twines around your neck; lepis

[Wolfbane]

My dreams have all come true

Traveling back from Nerine had not been a quick enough venture. Along with his the ache in his wings, Wolfbane could inherently feel a pressure concerning his family and wife. It grew as he paused for a moment in Loess, building into an urgency that sped him on through the territory he and Lepis knew as home, causing him to lather in sweat as the final few hills smoothed out into the Pampas.

He was worried; being too complacent about the wellbeing of horses who depended on his protection had clouded Bane’s usually devoted thoughts. In the balance he’d put the horses who depended on his loyalty, his sometimes aggressive leadership, first. For a moment he’d struggled - let himself slip - now he needed to remember: kingdom before self, but never before family.

With all that had gone sour and somehow sweet at the same time, Lepis and Pteron remained steadfast. Not once had their patriarch doubted the level of trust he and his wife shared. She would protect their son first, above everything, and in the end that’s what concerned her husband most. Of all the horrible possibilities just waiting to happen, the Pirate Lord never believed Lepis would abandon her commitments …

… and he could’ve never imagined what waited for him on the passing breeze. A foreign, heady scent assaulted his nose, brought by the sea to stop Wolfbane dead in his tracks. He’d been navigating steadily onwards, searching the places his mate frequented and having come downwind, now found himself conflicted by the obvious smell of another male mingling with hers.

Just like the colt he’s sired, Bane covers himself with a cloak of true invisibility and then inches softly up the grassy slope. He can’t hear at first; over the sound of his heart pounding and his blood rushing, there’s very little that keeps him focused on what the two above are talking about. They come into focus as he tops the rise, hidden eyes watching in breathless disbelief at the way they stand together. Been there myself is all he thinks, quietly waiting.

The stranger says something, “No” maybe, they both seem suspended for another moment afterwards and then (to his proud surprise) Lepis reacts with force.

It’s enough that he feels inclined towards murder. The dove that comes to roost in his nest is entwined by a serpent, giving Wolfbane enough malice to last him endless lifetimes. He steps forward as she spins around, quivering softly into focus from casting off his camouflage, showing a face clouded and twisted with rage. He says nothing.

Not at first. The striped pegasus only reveals himself and his emotions before calmly speaking his Queen’s name. “Lepis,” he chimes deeply, “Sylva is waiting for us.” As if Elektrum wasn’t there at all, despite how his venomous gaze lingers over the offending creature.

Drifting up beside her, one wing and his blue lips reaching out to touch her, comfort her, Bane takes his place alongside the pale gold mare. “Don’t waste your energy.” He finds himself rumbling, leaving a heavy trail of kisses for her stalker to witness. “I’m here now.”

Like all good nightmares do

@[Lepis] @[Elektrum] Novel for you both lol