A SPARTAN'S WAR

EARTH

CRANAE ISLAND

"…after him Sadi?" Ne'Veha asked as the four of the stood on the patio and watched as Andro's powerful form entered the waters of the Laconia Gulf and began to stroke out into the ocean.

Sadi shook her head slowly. "No." She answered softly. "That will only make it worse."

"We can feel the turmoil within him Sadi!" Carisia exclaimed. "We can't just leave him like this! How could Caliria do this?"

Sadi looked at her. "I don't know."

"There must be something we can do!" Lu'ria asked.

"Someone is already on it." Sadi spoke turning her head. "Someone who knows him just as well as we do. The only one who can really?" She said softly turning her head and they watched as Elynth's sleep powerful form came screaming in over the shore and her wings carried her out over the water.

Elynth had felt Andro's pain from ten miles away where she and Anthar had been hunting in the early morning mist. Without so much as a word to Anthar she dipped her wings and rocketed off back towards the villa. Now she sped across the surface of the water, her golden eyes focused on her Bonded Brother as he cut through the surface of the water with power and ease.

[Andro?] She called out as she swooped low above him.

[Now is not the time sister!] His voice snapped to her.

[What will you do? Swim all the way to the next continent to dull the pain you feel?] Elynth spoke as she turned lazily in the air above him.

[I saw… I saw that man in her bed!] Andro snarled. Anger fueled his strength and he cut through the water even faster now. [She laid with that man! She betrayed me!]

[Did she?] Elynth spoke softly. [Or did she just follow her heart?]

[She was my mate! My wife!] Andro growled.

[Listen to you!] Elynth exclaimed. [You speak like you owned her and that is not you!]

[Bah!] Andro snarled. [Leave me alone!]

[You will not Bah me Androcles Leonidas!] Elynth snapped at him. [And I will not leave you alone! Your emotions course through me too you fool! We are one!]

[Just leave me to my misery sister!] He growled.

[I will not!] Elynth barked out and she swooped down to the surface of the ocean and using her wickedly curved right talon she snatched Andro's naked form out of the warm water and rose into the air holding him in her grasp.

[Put me down!] Andro barked right back at her.

[Shut up!] Elynth scolded him. [You will not act like this! I won't allow it! I will drop you if you do not listen to me!] She snapped her jaw shut close to his face as she stared at him and her wings drew them higher into the morning air.

[You wouldn't dare!] Andro snarled at her.

Elynth grunted and opened her talon, releasing him from a hundred and fifty meters up. She curled back through the sky as she watched him fall; bringing his legs and arms together just before he entered the water of the ocean with a slight splash. [Excuse me?] She called out. [Did you say I wouldn't drop you?]

Andro came sputtering back to the surface of the water and shook his head, his eyes wide. [You dropped me!] He screamed. He groaned as the impact with the water finally caught up to him and his free hanging balls contracted in pain.

[Next time wear clothes when you swim fool!] Elynth called out as she swooped down and once more scooped him into her talon and rose into the air. [Now will you listen to me? Or do I need to drop you again?]

Andro gripped her talon tightly. [Why can't you just let me alone?] He snapped.

[You are my Bonded Brother!] Elynth barked at him. [I could never leave you alone. Just as you would never leave me alone.] She lifted her talon up to her shoulder and Andro easily scampered across her shoulder to settle onto her back where the saddle would normally be. They had flown many times with no saddle and Andro settled gingerly between her shoulders, his balls still aching in dull pain.

[That hurt sister.] Andro moaned out as he leaned forward and pressed his chest to her warm scales.

Elynth chuckled softly as she drew them away from the island. [You will live brother.] She stated. [Now you must let this go.]

[Caliria… I saw that man… I saw the way she was…] Andro said.

Elynth turned her head and looked at him. [She loves you Androcles.] Elynth spoke. [She loves all of you.]

[Then why?] Andro gasped.

[It is your fault.] Elynth told him.

[Mine?] He shouted.

[You should have never sent her away. I told you this.] Elynth spoke. [You should have never let her go back. All it did was confuse her even more than she already was. All it did was lower her ability to understand. You wanted her to know you and know all of us. What better place to learn that than here with us.]

[What… all these years of listening to Coren warped her perspective sister? Staying here would not have changed that.] Andro said.

[Rensibfla!] Elynth barked as she turned into the easterly wind. [Remaining here with you? With Sadi and the others? That is what she needed. To see the true inner world of you and your people. Of all of us. This is where the love for her would have brought balance back to her. made her stronger. Sadi is your core Androcles my Bonded Brother. I know this… I have always known that. Ever since that day on the island. But each of them make you stronger, just has your mothers make your father stronger. You love them all, and they love you. It is the center of your strength! And she will be part of it as well.]

[I don't want to talk about that!] Andro snapped.

Elynth laughed once more as she executed a complete inverted roll, relishing in the feelings of flying with her Bonded Brother again. Just the two of them. [You can not deny it will come to be Androcles. It is your destiny. The destiny of all of you.] She righted them once more and looked at the sun as it continued to climb into the sky. [We have not done this in so long Andro. Just the two of us. It is wonderful isn't it?]

Andro lifted his head and looked at the sun and the ocean far below. Their psychic shield activated instantly the moment they touched as it always did, but he could still feel the pressure of the air currents across his naked flesh. [What do I do now to make this right sister?] He asked softly.

Elynth turned her head once more and gazed at him with her golden eyes. [You let it run its course.] She answered. [She will return to you. To all of you. It will just be by a different path now. And you have other things to concern yourself with now. Others who look to you.]

[I'm scared Elynth.] He said finally.

Elynth nodded her huge head. [And the truth finally comes into the light.] She spoke. [Do you think you are the only one who is frightened my Bonded Brother? Do you think your father and grandfathers never felt this way? It is natural to fear Andro. As long as you don't let that fear rule your actions.]

[And how do I keep that from happening sister?] He asked.

[The Feravomir once told your father something Andro.] Elynth said. [My grandmother told me of it many years ago. She said… she told me one day I would need to share it with you my Bonded Brother.] Elynth turned her head and looked at him as he sat up straighter on her back. [She told me to tell you… Do not be afraid to lose Androcles Leonidas my Bonded Brother, for the moment you become afraid to lose something or someone, you will become afraid to act. And when you become afraid to act… all will be lost. And the same remains true for your father.]

Andro was silent as he stared at her golden eyes for a long moment. The wind carried them easily, Elynth's wings fully extended as she glided along with little effort. Cranae Island was far to the west now and thousands of feet below them as they flew over the ocean. Andro felt a surge of warmth through him. The warmth of love and devotion coming from Sadi and his other mates and wives as they reached for him. Everything in his life had brought him to this point. Every action, every decision, it had all been leading him to this very moment. All he and Elynth had endured, all the pain and death they had witnessed and wrought. All of it had been driving him to this exact moment. A moment where he had to make a decision. A decision that would alter his life and the lives of so many in the coming years. A decision not unlike those decisions his father had made over the course of his own life.

Androcles Leonidas had spent so many years and so much effort trying to come out from the shadow of his father that he never realized that the shadow was of his own creation. A more than simple shadow that his own thoughts and actions had created. A test. His father had known he would come to this point in his life. He had known all along that Androcles would reach the instant where he would truly become a man and a Prince. That instant was right now.

Androcles Leonidas took a deep breath and allowed the partial change to come over him. The black ring surrounded his azure colored eyes and his dual fangs slowly extended from his gums as he felt the power within him. Within Elynth.

[I… I am Androcles Leonidas, Crown Prince of the Lycavorian Union.] He stated proudly. [And I am my own man!]

Elynth released a trumpet that shattered the silence of the wind around them. [I am Elynth, daughter of Torma and Isheeni and Bonded Sister to Androcles Leonidas! I am my own person!] She bellowed into the sky.

[Let us return home sister!] Androcles announced. [I have mates to love! My mother's planet to free! And a war to win for our people!]

[And plans to make.] Elynth stated.

Andro met her gaze. [And plans to make. For the true war that is coming.]

[We make an oath this day my Bonded Brother.] Elynth continued. [An oath to serve all those around us. To never quit. To never stop. Not until the last breath leaves our bodies and we become one with our grandfathers and those who went before us.]

Andro nodded. [An oath it is my Bonded Sister.] He spoke.

Elynth dipped her right wing and sent them into tight turn back towards Cranae Island. [Then let us return and begin to show the Kavalians and others the error of their ways!]

Andro smiled. [Now that sounds like an excellent idea.] He said. [May my grandfather's spirits watch over and guide us sister.]

Elynth folded her wings back. [And pick us up if we fall.] She finished just before she lowered her head and they plummeted for the surface far below them.

The sun struck the surface of the water just then in a way that almost appeared like a rupture of light. Andro and Elynth both smiled as they plunged for the surface far below because to them it appeared as if those who had come before them were shining their lights on them from on high. It was a sign that war was coming. But it was also a sign that change was coming as well.

Never fear the unknown! Andro's voice echoed softly. Never fear the unknown!