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The Elephant King was sleeping— something he had done more soundly since the arrival of Hawezi into the world. Except not in this moment, No, in this moment, his head jerked and hide twitched, eyes moving frantically beneath closed lids. But his body, despite its obvious desperation to move and rouse from this restless, torturing slumber was trapped inside his tormented dreams.
Insistent prodding of his face, yanking of his ears, and pinching of his nose finally awoke him from his distressing dreams. Navy eyes flared open, meeting the bright blue eyes of Mbwene for a mere moment before, “Hawezi!” his bellow was loud and alarmed as he frantically scrambled to his hooves, mind still in the clutches of his nightmare.
Rexanna had left him, slipping easily beneath the barrel of Ashamin, the Basin Priest, before his very eyes. Their entwined bodies surrounded by black, red, and golden foals. And Elsa— Elsa had, rightfully, forsaken him, taking both her friendship, affections, and their son away from him. He was alone, alone and forsaken by those he loved (Mauja had perished by Tembovu’s horn, Ascended immortality had failed him).
Flames roared high, tongues the shape of elephant trunks in their dreamstate. Trumpets and screams filled the air— he had set the Edge ablaze with his desperate solitude. He hadn’t meant to, but the fire swept the trees, backing his herd against the drop. The winged took to the sky, but the thick smoke made some of them fall. And those wingless ones— some screamed as flames took them while others jumped. A youthful cry split the air, calling for his father. “Hawezi,” his trumpet was lost to the sound of flames as he saw giraffe-marked skin, blue tipped wings, and white-rimmed eyes staring from an ash-streaked. It was a glimpse, a last, precious glimpse before his child fell over the cliffs to escape the flames.
But he had wings! Why didn’t he use his wings?! Because Tembovu lacked them, and had never taught him how to fly. He had failed his son— a failed father, lover, friend, and King.
Insistent prodding of his face, yanking of his ears, and pinching of his nose finally awoke him from his distressing dreams. Navy eyes flared open, meeting the bright blue eyes of Mbwene for a mere moment before, “Hawezi!” his bellow was loud and alarmed as he frantically scrambled to his hooves, mind still in the clutches of his nightmare.
Tembovu
The Elephant King
@Hawezi
Please tag Tembovu.
