The king of Hydra, Felis lay dead on the ground of a forest. Who knew that he would meet this fate? Who knew that the king who was feared in all of Hydra and Araniea was going to die at the hands of none other than the princess of Pegasii?
Even as his body lay there with no life, the unicorn was mauling him with its hooves. One could hear the feral snarls and grunts and neighs of the beast. The sun had begun to rise and the usual chirping of the birds wasn't there. It was as if all the animals and birds were quiet spectators of the dance of death. None dared to interfere. None dared to make a sound.
Eltanin's wolf watched her and knew that both Lusitania and the spirit of Pegasii despised Felis to the extent that it would be difficult to stop them. But he had to stop her from this frenzy. She was getting carried away. Very softly, he purred, opening his mind link with her. "Lusitania…" She didn't listen to him. Upon seeing that she didn't even look at him, he increased his command over the mind link. "Tania, you have to stop."
"No!" she growled. "He killed my father." Over her mind link, she conveyed the spirit's message. 'He dared to kill the king of Pegasii. He shall dieee!"
Eltanin was stunned to hear the Pegasus. It was rare that the spirits of other kingdoms communicated with you like this. But he wanted Tania back. He wanted her for her safety, for their pup's safety. "I understand," he said in the same soft voice. "But I want Lusitania. She is… pregnant."
At those words, the unicorn stopped. He turned his face to look at Eltanin's wolf. After a moment of staring at him incredulously, he stepped back.
The sun rose like a canopy of gold, bright amid the blue commanding the night sky and the stars to take their night's rest. As the colors changed from charcoal to soft dove gray, Eltanin saw the unicorn against the sunlight. And it was beautiful. Its skin shone golden and so did its hair. Suddenly, the Pegasus turned to the right. Eltanin stepped back wondering what it was going to do.
The unicorn ran through the clearing nearby and then flared open its wings. And she leapt in the air. She flapped his wings powerfully and shot up.
"Tania!" Eltanin roared through his mind link to stop her, but she was beyond him. She was in control of the spirit of Pegasii.
Eltanin's wolf continued to run as far as possible till he could see the unicorn. "Come down!" he would call her desperately every now and then, but she didn't listen to him.
Tania was so numb with pain and there were too many emotions swirling in her mind. When the spirit took her up, she gave into him. She closed her eyes and gave into her beast. She wanted to recuperate. She wanted to forget it all. She just wanted to be herself. So much had happened over the past few months of her life that she was fed up.
For the first time she realized that giving in to the beast was so refreshing, so beautiful. She didn't know if she would shift back again or the spirit of Pegasii would enter her, but the freedom that she got flying in the skies, felt… natural. So she closed all her senses and let the spirit take her wherever it wanted to.
It was almost two hours since they kept flying. Eltanin didn't leave the sight of his wife. When Pegasus landed on the ground, Eltanin shifted and rushed to her. He placed his hands on Tania's neck and caressed her, feeling a thousand shades relieved. "Tania, come back," he said, his breath labored. "Please love, come back."
He came to stand right in front of the unicorn and cupped her face. "I know that you are suffering, but don't give into your beast. I need you. Badly. We are going to have a baby together. The pup needs you. Please Tania, come back." His eyes stung with tears because he knew that when a werewolf was highly distressed, they shifted and never came back to their human form. The beast usually took over for the rest of their life. He added, "Now you have to look after your kingdom, your mother…"
The unicorn neighed softly, reveling in Eltanin's touch. There were tears in her eyes.
"I know that it is hard, love, but please think about me. I can't live without you," Eltanin said and pressed his forehead against her face. "Come back. I need you."
It was then that Tania shook. Eltanin's call was so heart rendering that her chest squeezed. She had to shift back to reassure him that she was there for him. Always. She stepped back and then shifted. The moment she shifted, the spirit of Pegasii moved away from her. She ran to Eltanin's open arms and curled herself against his chest. "Elty…" she murmured.
Eltanin was so relieved and happy to see that his wife had shifted back that he let his tears fall. Tania cocooned him in her wings as he kissed the crown of her head. "Thank you. Thank you," he murmured. His gaze drifted to the spirit of Pegasii and he dipped his head in curtsy as if thanking him.
Tania looked up at her mate's face and said, "I want to go back to my mother. There is a lot that will happen now."
"I know, love," Eltanin said, cupping her face. He leaned over her and kissed her. It was beautiful.
She turned to look at the spirit of Pegasii. "Thank you," she said softly. "You and I are strong together."
The spirit neighed and then took off towards the jungles to go back to the kingdom it belonged to.
Tania kissed back her husband. She was so happy that he was there for her. She snapped her fingers and the next moment shadows and mist surrounded them. Eltanin found himself in her bedchamber in the Pegasii Palace. He said, "I think there would be Nyxers in the palace. Wait here till I come back, okay?"
"I want to be with my mother and father," she said.
"I know." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Let me find out where they are and I will take you there myself."
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