Wanderlust

Author’s Note: Hahahah! I am so slow and retarded in writing yes I know ._.! And this has actually been complete for about a million years but I sat on it because I'm cruel 8D I have enough written after it to feel comfy posting again :x I had to be maid of honor in a wedding and we replaced the floors in my house which took a good 2 weeks of me huddling in various rooms to avoid workmen, that's my excuse >>;;

A-Anyway don't hurt me for this chapter XD;;

Chapter 6

The months passed slowly; spring turned into summer, summer turned to fall, and as winter in Mulgore loomed the memory of the brief visit of the Horde battalion had faded to a mere ghost to all but one resident of Aykwani. While the days marched by, Enoki only ached more. He would lie amongst the grass for hours miles from home in the dimming autumn light as the few trees that dotted the plains turned gold, gazing at the sky and thinking of Jyota.

He wondered where he was, what he was doing, if he ever even thought of the wide-eyed, eager Shaman he met on a random visit to a tiny Tauren town and if by some, mystical chance they just so happened to be looking up at the same cloud at that very moment. There was an excruciating yearning deep in his soul to pack all his worldly possessions to venture out and search the world for the beautiful Hunter, seeing everything there was to see and finding his secret love waiting for him at the end of his journey just like Jyota had foretold. His words lived on like legend in his heart; a legend that grew more enigmatic and magical as it smoldered and consumed his being in the flames of passion.

A small harbinger of Jyota’s tale came to pass one breezy fall day when the altogether dormant raptor egg suddenly sprang to life. Inali and Enoki had watched in rapture as the tiny creature struggled from the shell inch by inch, and when the keen reptilian eyes had opened the first thing they gazed upon was his master’s smiling face. Imprinted and enraptured, the unsteady, scaly little thing had taken to the Troll like a mother and Enoki had lovingly dubbed him Zynn.

Zynn had hatched a wan, sunset shade of orange with pale turquoise streaks, but as he grew and his scales hardened they deepened into a rich ruby hue. Enoki doted on him and the duo became immediately inseparable, hunting together on the plains and spending every waking moment preparing for the day Enoki could mount him and feel at last like a true Darkspear Troll.

The change had not gone unnoticed by Inali either. Though he could feel his body slowly grow weaker, his magic dimmed with each passing day, and his dreams were filled with council from spirits long passed to the Earthmother, his routine with his ward continued. The lessons, however, little by little and unobserved by Enoki began to grow shorter as his stamina waned.

When that happened, Enoki spent more and more time away from home with his raptor hatchling, and often Inali caught him rigidly going through the combat moves Jyota had taught him like a sacred ritual instead of his Shamanism. The old bull felt neither resentment nor anger toward it but in its stead a staunch pride; for Enoki was finally acting and looking like a man aged from a careless little boy. He had purpose and determination in his spirit for the first time since he had sat him down to tell him he even had powers over nature. Even though restlessness consumed him and he looked more like a caged feral wolf than a Shaman’s apprentice, Enoki sat through every lesson the master had to give with patience and an open mind.

Enoki learned to heal, learned to summon the lightning from the air and the water from the land to empower him, and he learned to master the alliance of the stones beneath his feet and the devastating cold of frost. There was but one last important aspect of Shamanism Inali had yet to teach him, but when the cold, grey morning when he brought out his beloved totems finally came his shaking hands could barely lift the small leather pouch he kept them in. The light wooden idols felt like boulders, and the effort of stooping down to retrieve them cinched his chest and rattled his thin breath in his lungs. Inali spent several dizzy, disoriented minutes slumped against his trunk before Enoki finally came to look for him and still needed the Troll’s worried assistance to get up.

For the first time in the eleven years he had spent raising his boy, no matter how valiantly he struggled, Inali failed to summon the strength to go to their tree. It was with a heavy heart weighed with sorrow as well as grim reality that he dismissed his ward and cancelled the lesson for the day.

Enoki was immediately overcome with a dark, crushing cloud of disturbed foreboding. That had never once happened before, rain or shine, sickness or health, holiday or festival, each day had seen them beneath the tree and practicing the magics of Shamanism. The Troll skittered about worriedly, wrapping his grandfather in blankets and clumsily making his favorite tea in private hopes he was testing him or that somehow he could coax the vitality out of him.

Inali knew better and insistently ushered Enoki outside to take Zynn for a hunt or to practice his combat moves instead.

“A-Are yeh realleh sure Grannda?” Enoki asked, flattened over the arm of Inali’s favorite chair where he rested with his ears pinned back to his skull.

The bull’s hand found his wild red hair and stroked it back with weak affection.

“Of course I am, no reason for you to be cooped up inside all day as well. It will pass, I’m not getting any younger after all, and we’ll just double our lesson tomorrow, alright?”

Emerald eyes flicked skittishly up to him, and the pierced ears slowly swiveled back to erect.

“But-“

“No buts,” Inali interjected, tapping Enoki’s hooked nose, “I don’t want you pitter pattering around the house today. Go outside, take Zynn, and do what you please, you’re a man now, and you have the makings of a truly great Shaman. I trust that you can spend a day on your own and make the most of it.”

The pointed look of hinting, skillfully feigned as it was, was enough to convince Enoki that perhaps this was a test of his abilities and he stood with cautious resolve.

“I see… Right right! Make de most a’ my day! I get it!” he began with a flicker of a smirk, “Alrigh’ den, I’ll be back later Grandda! An’ I’ll tell yah ALL about what I did! Hehe!”

“Yes yes go, I’ll have dinner ready when you get back,” Inali said, waving his hand dismissively.

Finally satisfied enough to leave; Enoki darted in for a quick hug before he trotted to his bedroom, changed into a warmer outfit with a cloak for the rainy weather, plucked up Zynn from his hay nest and bounded out the door.

Inali was left in the steely darkness of the cabin, shivering beneath his blanket and struggling to keep his breathing even. He had tried to hide his degenerating health from his beloved charge for as long as he could, but the darkness loomed all around him and the strength to fight it eluded his desperate grasp. It was best Enoki think he was testing him then, for him to go out into the beauty of nature with hopes and dreams rather than attend his bedside like a hospital matron, he thought. He wanted his last days with Enoki to be filled with him as he always was, full of energy and blind enthusiasm, lusting for life and adventure and brimming with trouble.

Dreams overtook him before he was even aware his body was succumbing to exhaustion, the crackling morning fire dimmed, and the light slowly went out. The next thing he knew it was late in the afternoon, and he was being rudely awakened by a sharp, commanding pounding at his door.

Inali jerked up from his chair with a wheeze and a strangled gasp for air, eyes blurry and dazed. The rapping continued amidst the sound of rain, the sleep cleared from his mind, and the Shaman realized he knew exactly what was going on. Enoki and his future after he had come of age was rapidly becoming the main subject of interest and conversation among the elders of the village. With his frequent, prolonged absences they quite often sat around his Grandfather’s table to discuss his talents and his training while his keen ears and curious disposition were far from overhearing. Remembering that, Inali fully expected what awaited him after struggling out of his chair.

Cygnus Ashmane, leader of Aykwani village and revered Druid, stood on his doorstep looking pinched and solemn as ever beneath his ceremonial wolf pelt mantle. He held his gnarled, feathered staff in his hands to lean upon and regarded the equally aged bull with appraising blue eyes.

“Hail, Inali,” he said curtly as he edged his way inside.

“Hail, Cygnus, to what do I owe the pleasure today?” Inali replied, clearing his rattling throat and taking the wet skin from the other to hang on a peg by the door.

The white furred Bull shook the rainwater from his family namesake gray mane and snorted as the ring in his nose jangled back into place.

“Same thing as usual,” Cygnus replied and presumptively took his usual chair at the table in front of the fireplace, “Though today I regret to say I am here with some more grave tidings.”

Inali tightened the brightly colored woven blanket around him and nodded as he lowered his weary bulk into the chair across from him.

“Enoki, of course, but what news could be grave of him? He hasn’t gotten himself in trouble has he?”

“No, nothing of the sort,” the elder assured him, folding his hands neatly on the table as he considered his words, “I… How shall I begin…?”

“Just say your peace Cygnus, we are both old men and have little time for formalities,” Inali gently urged.

“Very well then,” the Druid stated, “I have come here, because I am concerned for Enoki’s future. You may be adept at fooling him, but the rest of us who are as old as you and have known you for longer know far better. You are not long for this world Inali, and what is to become of the Troll once you are gone?”

Facing mortality was something far too easy to ignore, especially raising vivacious and rambunctious Enoki. Inali had not once thought of what he would do once he was gone, but the answer was still swift on his lips.

“What other than he will remain here in this home, and grow to be a valuable asset to our village?” he retorted brusquely.

Cygnus pursed his lips, silent, considering his words.

“Inali… We all see his talent, we all know he brings liveliness and spirit to our sleepy little village, but there still remains the simple fact that he is a Troll. As much as I would love to keep him here, everyone would, we all feel it would probably be best for him to find a place with his own people. A place where when he is of venerable age he can hold a proper position in the tribe, where he can worship his Gods and impart wisdom to the young whelps. And among Trolls he can-“

“Cease this ridiculous prattling right now, Cygnus,” Inali snapped suddenly and startled the druid soundly out of his well rehearsed proposal.

“Excuse me?”

“I said stop it, you’re talking about my grandson as if he were still some misbehaved child to be foisted upon whatever caretaker that would still tolerate him! He is not, he is far from it. Enoki is a man now. He has grown exponentially the past few months, and he does not need to be looked after any longer. When I am gone, he will make his choice of where he wants to be and that is where he will stay. Aykwani has been his home for nearly as long as he can remember and if this is where he chooses to live out his days, so be it!” Inali said, rising to his hooves, tail whipping angrily behind him.

“Who are you to tell him where he belongs? Who are you to tell anyone where they belong? I truly believe your intentions are good, but you are sorely misguided. The spirits are strong with my boy and the day I die he will have their guidance! Yes, he will be great, he will be strong, and he will find himself..! Like a wolf on the plains, even if he must run, must howl, must wander for a lifetime, he will find his pack… E-Enoki will… Enoki will find…”

The words died in his throat. A ghostly, incorporeal hand wrapped around it and banished all strength from his body, wrung the light from his eyes and froze his blood. The great form of the Shaman master wavered and a grey curtain fell before his eyes that dimmed the light on the white blur of Cygnus leaping to his hooves to catch him as he fell. He saw his lips moving, repeating his name, saw his head move to shout to his attendants standing just outside the door, but his ears were filled with the whispers of the spirits lingering close by and his vision slowly faded to black.

“Enoki will find for himself where he belongs…”

A cold wind whipped across the plains and parted the bleak sea of showering thunderheads rolling across the strata. The rain lightened and a few meek, brave rays of light pierced through the darkness like a golden trident cast from the heavens to the tranquil greenery below. Enoki, perched atop the tall hill where Jyota had kissed him once more, sat in the wet grass on his cloak with his legs crossed, elbows propped on his knees and chin in his palms. His eyes watched the morphing sky but his mind was haunted by the strangely bleak melancholy of the earth.

A song, almost a dirge flowed through his spirit surrounded by quiet and nature in words and melodies he failed to comprehend. It was not so much a song but a feeling, a vibration in his very being that resonated something untouched and unknown within him. He closed his eyes, his ears quivered in the wind while he strained to listen and understand. A distant boom of thunder and Zynn’s pitiful chittering beside him rang louder.

The little raptor paced back and forth in front of a prairie dog hole hunting the bold inhabitant popping out to taunt him and just as quickly vanishing. Distracted, Enoki turned his head and smiled at his beloved pet diving in for the kill and missing, bumping his stubby little muzzle into the dirt and ricocheting back with frustrated tail lashing.

“Heheh, keep at it mon! You’ll get’im,” he chuckled.

His short-lived mirth dissolved into a sigh and he turned his eyes back to the strata. Beneath the heavens he sat in the rippling emerald earth like a single terrestrial star; infinitesimal, lost, and caught between the two unbounded planes. Nothing made sense to him anymore. His heart longed for so many things he felt it could be torn in every direction. He longed for Jyota, he ached to leave Mulgore, to meet others of his own kind and taste victory upon the field of battle, but at the same time he was terrified. A nagging voice deep within him had constantly told him to stay, to remain with his grandfather and finish his training. He knew it was the right thing to do, but ignoring it proved to be no less than agony for his robust young soul.

“Jyota…” Enoki moaned, closed his eyes and buried his forehead into his knees, “I miss you…”

There was a smooth, scaly bump against his hand accompanied with Zynn’s worried whistles and clicks and he stroked the raptor with a tiny, comforted smile.

“T’anks buddy, you gotta grow up fast fah me so we can get de hell outta dis place, okay? Someday we’ll get outta here…”

Zynn tilted his head, drawn to his master’s voice with curious incomprehension and blinking his golden yellow reptilian eyes. He leaned into the absent minded petting from the warm three-fingered hand when a sound in the distance caught his ears and his head jutted up to attention. Startled, Enoki jerked as well, and turned to match his sight with the raptor’s.

“What? What is it Zynn? Whatcha hear?” he asked, fearing plains predators or worse, a rogue Alliance battalion.

Enoki listened intently. Instead of the march of feet or the ravenous howls of hungry coyotes, the wind carried a frantic call of his name. Concerned, he scooped Zynn into his arms and rose to peer down the hill where a soaked Tauren Woman atop a miserable Kodo beast was waiting and hollering.

“ENOKI!” the messenger bellowed at the top of her lungs when she finally got the Troll’s attention, “Enoki come quick! It’s your grandfather! He’s taken ill! You have to come back immediately!”

All thoughts in his head vanished, the song of the earth disappeared with them and a veil of darkness shrouded his sight. His blood froze, his heart stopped and the world around him shifted dizzily. His limbs were numb and loose, unfeeling as he sailed down the hill, water sprayed from the grass beneath his thundering feet and his eyes burned hot with tears that did not fall. The woman deftly grabbed his outstretched hand, hauled him behind her on the mount, and snapped the reins to gallop back to Aykwani as fast as the creature could carry them.

Raw terror sealed his lips and paralyzed his tongue on the ride back though his mind howled and screamed for answers and all he could do was cling to the Tauren’s waist and tremble. He tried to think of it as nothing serious, but his grandfather had never been sick a single day, and for a messenger to be sent to fetch him he knew deep in his soul it was far more grave than he dared imagine. The line of black swathed Tauren standing outside his home when he arrived was the dark, uncontestable sign he was deathly wrong.

Enoki sprang past them and slammed through the door, deposited an unhappy Zynn on the floor by the fire and exploded into his grandfather’s room with a strangled cry.

“GRANDDA!”

Cygnus stood at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed over his chest solemnly and regarded the Troll with a mixture of relief and sorrow. Various healers under his command crowded behind him and obscured the view of their patient in bed which Enoki heedlessly plowed through to Inali’s side.

The ancient shaman lay still against the pillows, chest heaving erratically and once proud, hulking form withered and shrunken under the thick quilts. His previously rich brown pelt, though long grayed and wiry with age, was markedly wan and matted, gnarled hands clutching at his chest in pain even in his half sleep.

Enoki could scarcely believe the sight, lovingly deceived for so long it was abrupt and viscerally disturbing. Even taking his icy hand in his own, it took him several moments to even believe it was Inali lying in bed with the stark pall of death looming above him.

“Grandda…?” he repeated meekly at length, voice cracking with tears.

Inali stirred at last, lips parting for a hoarse, breathless whisper of his name as his eyes slowly fluttered open.

“E-Enoki…? Enoki… My boy…?” he ventured, glazed eyes searching until they fell upon the distinct teal and crimson blur.

A weak smile spread across his sunken face and he reached up to cup the Troll’s cheek in his palm lovingly.

“You came back…”

Enoki grit his teeth and laughed a quiet, broken snicker to keep the tears at bay.

“C-Course’ I did! Dey came an’ told me yeh taken ill an’ I… I came home… G-Grandda what’s goin’ on? What happened? Y-Yeh was fine yestahday! I don’ get it!” he protested.

Inali’s hand fell from Enoki’s cheek and limply hit the bedding as he smiled and closed his eyes once more.

“Oh… Enoki, that… Was for us both. I have felt this for quite some time, but selfishly… S-Selfishly, I kept it to myself. I didn’t want our last days together to be filled with… Sorrow… I wanted to live without the specter of death haunting us. I wanted you to be as joyful as ever… For you, and for myself. I adore the strong, confident and vivacious man you’ve grown up to be Enoki… I want to remember you this way, and I wanted you to remember me as I always was to you…” he whispered.

“No…” Enoki hissed between his teeth, gripping Inali’s hand and pressing his forehead into his knuckles, “No Grandda don’ talk like dat please… Please yeh ain’ goin’ nowhere! Yeh gonna be fine, it still gonna be like dat! I-I gonna get intah trouble, an’ I gonna beatcha tah de tree tomorrow mornin’ jes like I always do! Dis ain’ de end! It don’ feel like de end!”

He sniffed and rubbed the tears bravely from his eyes, smiled and nuzzled Inali’s hand. For just a while longer he could ignore the realization he knew all along what the earth was trying to tell him; that the Earthmother was glad to have one of her own back home.

Inali stroked Enoki’s trembling hands with his thumb and carded his other hand into his red hair. A pointed look to Cygnus told him it was time to leave and take his healers with him. There was nothing left for them to do but wait.

The majestic white bull nodded soberly to his old friend, gave a sweeping bow of respect and farewell and finally turned to leave. The rest of the Tauren filed out of the room to wait in the main living quarters starting a song of mourning, leaving grandfather and ward alone with the sound of the fire, the wind and the rain.

Inali listened for a moment, waiting, and a clap of thunder in the distance answered him, a serene and wise smile on his lips.

“Do you hear that Enoki…?” he asked once he was sure Cygnus and the others were gone.

The Troll’s ears stood up and he lifted his head slightly while his heavy brow knitted and long nose leaked over his upper lip.

“Eh…? Hear what? I-It jes de thundah, Grandda,” he replied, rubbing under his nose with his wrist, “Yeh oughta be restin’, if yah sick enough tah hallucinate about dyin’…”

“Thunder… Lightning… Nature’s most devastating gift given only to the Earthmother’s Shaman who deserve it,” undeterred, Inali continued, “It… Was the first thing I taught you, the first thing I learned… I’ve taught you healing, of the wind, the, water, the earth and the flame… You know… All you need to know… There… Is but one last thing I must impart to you before it is too late…”

“N-No Grandda enough’a dat crazy talk… Y-yah gonna keep teachin’ me, h-hehe… I-I don’ know shit realleh!” Enoki rebuked him with ever faltering conviction.

“Enoki… Please listen to me, I don’t have much time left and I… I need to tell you something important… I need you to listen and listen carefully. Consider… Consider it our final lesson, do this for me…” Inali rasped, a plaintive pleading in his eyes.

Enoki fell silent against the roll of thunder with his ears pinned low to his head, and finally nodded.

“Good boy. N-Now, I want you to go to my trunk, open it, and on the top there is a small satchel… Bring it to me,” the ailing Tauren instructed.

Without a word the redhead obeyed and leapt to the painted wooden trunk so memorable to him as a constant facet of his grandfather’s chambers. The lid gave way easily with the familiar squeak of old metal hinges and inside resting atop Inali’s old ceremonial feathered garments, charms and scrolls was the beautifully crafted pouch. Feathers and bone beads decorated the trim, and the fine old leather was tooled and dyed with an intricate crest of tribal carvings of the four elements twisting and blending into one another in an endless circle. Such was its beauty and subtle radiance of power and command Enoki held it and stared for a moment, awestruck.

“What is dis?” he asked reverently as he stood and brought it back to Inali’s side.

Inali smiled mystically and took his bag against his chest to wrench it open with shaking hands.

“These… Were mine, long ago when I was a young bull defending our homeland. It served me well then, and when I was older, wiser, and the Tauren and the Orcs became friends to form the mighty union of the Horde. They are the essential tools of any Shaman, and though… Th-Though ordinarily it would be up to you to carve your own, to speak with the spirits themselves and get their blessings, I pass them on to you in hopes… In hopes that you will find on your own what they mean to you,” he said, and reached into the bag.

Icy fingers painstakingly grasped at the familiar idols and finally, one by one drew out four intricately carved totems with Inali naming each of them as he laid them on his quilt.

“Earth… Air… Fire… And Water… With these… You will be able to summon the totems, a direct conduit between us and the omnipotent forces of nature. With these… You can be more powerful than you even imagined until now…”

Enoki watched, but felt as if his spirit instead floated above his body watching and imagining the passing on of sacred relics from mentor to ward like a campfire hero story. There was not a shred in his soul that believed he deserved such a treasure and his hands remained rigidly clenched on his lap.

“Your totems…?” managed the Troll after a long, tense silence, “Grandda I can’ take dose… Like yah said, yah gotta carve ‘em yahself, a-an’ go an’ face de elements on yah own! A-An’ I dunno how tah get de elemental spirits tah talk tah me! Y-Yeh gotta stay an’ teach me! Yeh gotta tell me how! Yeh gotta- Yeh gotta-!”

His vision blurred and his voice grated against the grit of tears in his throat.

“Grandda yeh can’t go!”

Tears streaked down Inali’s cheeks with Enoki but he smiled on and felt for the quivering teal hand at his side.

“Do not cry, little one, do not mourn for me… My time on the earth has been long and happy, and you have made it all the better, but… It is over now. I know in my heart… Deep inside me… Even though I won’t be with you… You will continue to grow, and to learn, and you will always… Always… Make me proud…” he breathed.

“Grandda…” Enoki croaked and threw himself over his chest, “Grandda I nevah said thank you. Fah takin’ care’a me… Fah teachin’ me how tah… How tah fight, how tah live, how tah be a good man… Fah lovin’ me…”

Warm and tender arms encircled his wiry form one last time and held him close.

“I need no thanks… Seeing you grow up to be strong, happy, brave… Seeing that you listened to me… That’s all the thanks I need…”

A sob tore through the Troll’s chest and the valiant crusade against his sorrow was lost.

“I love you, Grandda…”

“And I love you, Enoki. Never lose your fire, never deny your spirit or your courage… And I… I will watch over you always…” came the distant reply.

Enoki shook his head, and nothing more needed to be said. The two lay together in the hush of the moment as Inali’s strength failed and he drifted to welcome content repose. Day succumbed to night in the rolling veil of the quiet storm and Inali slept with the Troll curled close against him. He dreamt, not of his ancestors or his Gods, but of his past instead, guided toward eternal slumber with visions of his youth, his heroics, and at last of his ward. More vividly than anything he relived in poignant, lush detail his years with the brilliant young Shaman he had been honored to call apprentice and grandson.

As the dawn defiantly broke through the dark clouds Inali was coaxed awake by a curtain of sparkling golden light sharply bent through his window and over his bed. The room soared into brightness, and Enoki’s curled form was still beside him crooked from chair onto the bed with his arms crossed and ears pinned back. His fiery red hair shone with a crimson halo of light and his tearstained and tattooed cheeks glistened. He slept lightly, but he was far from at peace, and the moment he felt his Grandfather stir and the warmth return to the room he jerked upright.

“Grandda?” he squeaked sleepily.

A wistful sigh exited Inali’s lips and he struggled to turn to the window.

“Enoki… Is it… Is it dawn? Is the sun up…?” he asked, voice weak and barely above a whisper.

Enoki managed a tearful smile, not even needing to look at the window. The light streamed in, brilliant and inviting as it danced across the old Tauren’s form.

“Yeah… Yeah de sun up,” he answered gently.

Inali seemed to relax and the sun cast playful ripples over his fading body. It warmed and soothed him as the gold flared into a dazzling white, clear and radiant even to his ancient eyes. Around them village slept breathless in the dawn save for the twittering herald of the birds singing a triumphant chorus and the wind tossing the haunting chimes hung outside the cabin.

“Good…” Inali whispered, “I wanted… I wanted to see the sun…”

His smile grew brighter as the pain melted from his olden bones and a giddy weightlessness took its place. A laugh, melodious joyful and true, found its place in his final breaths.

“I wanted… To go in the dawn. I wanted… To leave the sunset of life, in the sunrise.”

Enoki giggled along with him, unable to help the fond and tearful if brief smile.

“Yeh dat sound like you. Likin’ bein’ jes a little different. Gotta be… Tah put up wit a handful like me… An’ I… Nevah… I don’… I dunno.. What… What I gonna do wit’out you, Grandda…?” he asked timidly.

Enoki’s tiny voice seemed miles away and the light gleamed brighter than any sun in his eyes. It swelled and consumed the teal figure crouched beside him, washed away his home and the plains until it was existence itself. Time stretched to a small eternity without reason, without meaning and with but precious few moments left he spoke at last.

“Anything you like… Enoki,” Inali breathed with a radiant smile, even as his eyes slowly closed, “You can do anything. You can follow the sun, follow your heart, listen to the earth and the spirits and see and know anything you desire. Anything at all… Find love, find adventure, find destiny… Live… Above all else… Live…”

Strength filled the loving final words on his lips emboldened by his fleeting, freed spirit and his fingers unwound from Enoki’s desperate grip. His hand fell to the bed, his lids finally closed, and the last flicker of light dimmed and went out.

“I will… Grandda. I promise I will!” Enoki hurriedly swore with a smile even while Inali’s chest quietly stilled, “Grandda I won’ give up! I won’! Grandda I-! G-Grandda?”

He reached for his withered hand once more and grasped it tight. No longer did the pleasant thrum of magic pulse through the wise palm that had seen so many years of strife and battle. Dimming ever swiftly was the warmth that stroked him to sleep each restless night in his new home in Mulgore, tended to his wounds from play and training, and reassured him when all hope seemed lost. Gone, was the noble and loving spirit of his grandfather.

“Grandda…?” he ventured again, answered only by the mournful chimes outside the window.

A gentle nudge of his arm proved futile, tears spilled fast and furious as the beating of birds’ wings high above, and while dawn continued the eternal march through the mottled blue sky, Enoki wept.