"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
{ and in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times }
Who knew that an apparition could command such ruin.
A crown of flowers crushed.
"SOLACE! PHASE!" The words tear from my lips just as what must be Svedka shreds the image of Panthera. How -- how could this be Svedka? But I do not have time to consider the worried voice in my mind, the reflexes of my warrior self overriding the anxious woman within me who fears for the unborn lives of my children, and the life of the woman who carries them.
My restraints find him just as his paws pass through Solace's immaterial body. Thank the Gods. Animalistic anger surges through me to know that this monster attempted to harm my wife -- but the thunder crack of that same wife's voice stills the urge I have to slit his throat where he stands.
Around the lion's shoulders, wrists, paws, knees, throat, mouth, spine, and tail, earthen restraints press. Iron pulled from the depths of the earth below to entrap the predator who laid claim to Svedka's body and mind. As the blizzard which surrounds Solace finds its way back to her mane and tail, I remind myself that this here, in my chains, is my brother in law.
I cannot be the reason that Solace loses a second brother.
Gritting my teeth, I widen my stance and pin my ears, concentrating on holding the lion while Solace moves forward. What ought to have been a voice of interrogation comes out as one of sisterliness and love... One glance of my eyes to her protruding barrel undoes one layer of my cool.
"Give him back you wretch!" A snarl curls its way on to my lips, the ivory of my teeth lengthening into fangs. "Or I'll keep you here until your eyes cross with exhaustion and then I'll rip him out from you in your dreams! And I promise to make that a very unpleasant experience for you." As my sentence ends, the pitch of my voice drops, the nutmeg of my eyes taking on a dangerous red hue.
In the midst of chaos there are shouts and a flurry of movement, each of them reacting swiftly to their companion now being that of a predator. The puma’s paw grasps at nothing once again, enraging it all the more. Frost and fractiles of ice flicker gently against the tawny of its thick fur, the blackness of its eyes searching a wispy and translucent form of what Solace once had been. The mountain lion screams at the sudden pull of gravity against each of its legs, confusion shadowing the angry and snarling face. It pulls against the restraints, throwing itself against the earthen chains in an attempt to free itself, its howl both eerie and terrifying as it echoes across all of the open expanse around them. The grip tightens as the beast’s struggling only worsened the caged feeling, grunting and hissing as it comes to a realization that it has nowhere to go.
Claws still unsheathed and its fangs still visible, the puma becomes nearly still beneath Kagerus’ restraints, attempting to free itself every few seconds with a lunge of its shoulder or a feeble attempt to lift its paws from the earth. It is panting with exertion and stubbornness, sides heaving. The lion groans, refusing to become still or calm, attempting to twist and turn despite the inability to move at all. Confused, angry, and understanding nothing, the mountain lion’s eyes fixate with large pupils on Solace as she stretches closer, a deep and rumbling growl reverberating in its throat in warning. Fear passed over the predator for a moment, pressing itself into the ground as low as it could to get away from her, but there was nowhere to go. She says Svedka’s name but the beast knows nothing, simply staring at her with unseeing eyes. Cornered and helpless, it pauses and becomes quiet as she comes closer, the terrible sounds in its throat falling silent.
Solace’s mouth so tenderly sweeps over the furrowed brow of the spitting puma and for the slightest - and most hopeful - of moments, there is a flash of cerulean that beams in its eyes. Solace. I’m here. Svedka’s voice cries out from somewhere within the lion, but no sound comes to the real world for them to hear. The gripping moment does not last, and in a literal blink of the mountain lion’s eyes they turn black once again, immediately throwing itself against Kagerus’ hold with such strength that without her restraints, his claws and teeth would have found deep purchase in Solace’s neck and chest.
Kagerus’ deadly voice brings its attention away from Solace, a deep-seated growl coming through rippling lips. Feral and wild, it does not relent to her request, snarling and spitting beneath her powerful restraints. It had been waiting for a weak moment to gain control of Svedka once again and it would not yield to him without a fight.
The howl which rips across the plane is fierce and primal. It is a sound that seems to crawl below her skin, made all the more terrible because of its source.
The creature who holds Svedka flattens to the earth once it is clear that he can not strike her, and she reaches to brush her lips across his furrowed brow. The lion speaks her name and the intensity of her relief nearly brings tears to her sky-blue eyes. The voice is not quite right, but the flash of its familiar tenor causes her heart to sing. But the power of the feeling only heightens her distress once she realizes that it is nothing more than a passing moment. The glips of the man behind the beast is so brief, and her brother is a captive of this creature. He lashes out; the lion struggles and surges against Kagerus' power, but the bonds her wife has made hold.
Stunned into bewilderment Solace takes a step back, Svedka's distorted voice still ringing in her ears. It seems that softly spoken words would not be enough to tame this animal, or whatever magic held her brother in its iron grasp. She wonders, briefly, if this is some magician's curse. Wide-eyed and wary, she turns to see if there is some stranger not so far off who was working this terrible spell. But the grasslands are empty, and although that does not completely rule out the possibility, she pushes aside that thought for now.
Her pained glances return to dance between the two warriors, both fanged and both ready to give their all. She feels useless as she stands apart, removed from the struggle, a helpless bystander. But they strain against each other in a stalemate, and Kagerus' last threat is what seems like their only option.
"The dreamscape, Kagerus..." her voice escapes her in a whisper. "Maybe we can free him there."
S
olace
we're reeling through an endless fall we are the ever-living ghost of what once was
{ and in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times }
Thrash.
He's still Svedka.
Yowl.
He's still Svedka.
Lunge.
He's still Svedka.
Resist.
He's still --
It's no use. When again the lion disobeys, goes to harm the lives of my wife and children, I double down on the restraints. If the lion cries out in pain I pretend not to notice, tears streaking down my face as the moral part of me recognizes how I am hurting someone I love so, so dearly. How could I? Yet a singular glance to Solace offers every explanation, the justification writ with the clarity of a starlit lake the reasons why.
The dreamscape, Kagerus, she whispers. I can taste the agony in the hum of her aching voice. "Maybe we can free him there.
"No," I growl through gritted teeth, not taking my eyes off of the lion for a second. "Not us, Solace. The dreamscape with a feral predator is no place for you or our children. If we go, it will be alone, and you will stay here phased awaiting our awakening." It kills me to be so harsh with the woman I pride myself on always be equals with but the intensity of the situation rids my mind of any compromise.
Even still...
Even still, I break.
My tear-strewn face, screwed up just a moment ago in fury, turns to Solace with the aching disorder of grief and confusion. "We don't have another choice, Sol," I choke. "And -- and once he's a horse again, the only thing I can think of to make his proximity to you safe is ankle restraints." I hold her gaze despite how greatly I wish to look away, ashamed to be saying out loud what I know she wishes to remain unspoken forever. "Metallic ones, so that he cannot shift without risking great harm to his lion self."
A yowl reminds me of the lion's current imprisonment.
"And Sol," I shudder. "I don't think this lion will be ready to sleep any time soon... Maybe you should try talking to him again." I think of the cerulean flash of eyes I'd seen as she'd kissed his forehead not three minutes ago. "Maybe you are the key to his freedom today, not me."
The lion thrashes against Kagerus’ restraints, howling in anger and confusion, not understanding how it has been made to stay in place. Fear begins to crawl into its muscles, eyes wide and rolling as its gaze flickers from Kagerus and then to Solace, tongue flashing between open teeth. Desperate to protect itself but unable to get away or to fight, the beast becomes still from exertion and frustration, its sides heaving. It still remains poised to lunge, though its efforts would be futile. It sways ever so slightly on its claws, unwilling to relent its consciousness to Svedka yet feeling the powerlessness and weakness it has against the magician’s tethers.
It is not weak enough for Svedka to completely overtake, but deep in its subconscious, it feels the stallion stir. The women’s plan was working - if only they were to keep going.
But when have they ever been the types to give up?
The lion is quickly realizing its predicament is something it would not be able to release itself from. That fact did not keep it from faltering, however, and while its black irises stubbornly flicker between the two, its muscles begin to tire from fatigue, pulling and fighting against its tethers that keep him bound. For once, Svedka’s soul can see the bars that entrap him, and he begins to rattle at the cage from the inside, fighting for his freedom.
Black eyes flash blue again - and this time for a longer than a few blinks - and turn to stare desperately into Solace’s eyes, fear filling their depths. The cat’s head snakes backwards to rid himself of their cerulean color, lowering itself onto its belly, for a moment becoming passive and still.
![[Image: kag]](https://78.media.tumblr.com/2e8039018ce4dff6112c167ec23e886a/tumblr_p72zjit7wC1s5a0qvo1_100.png)
