Midas

We could leaf through each other with surprising ease; so much so that upon approach I could see the gladness leave his eyes only to be replaced by either annoyance or anger. I couldn’t immediately tell which, but both were undesirable and not my intent. It was then that I realized my armor might be partly the cause, and the other was that this sudden attack was kept mostly private considering how sudden we had been called into action. An apologetic smile creased my tired face as he obediently nodded in agreement to my suggestion. I felt blessed to have a forgiving son.

Steel would have been removed the moment my duties ended in the fields; but Kri had been wary of letting down our guard until we knew for certain that the rest of our family was safe. Plus… as mentioned before…my alloy was nasty and desperately in the need for a rinsing before I slide it back into a collar.

My son pressed muzzle to me affectionately, not seeming to mind the stench that was radiating off me with power enough to wilt the grass we stood on. Pushing against that soft velvet with a stained maw I couldn’t hide my gratitude for his maturity, had this boy been a little younger he might have reacted more unfavorably. "Okay. Are you hurt dad?" Ilaria nosed her way closer to me by pawing up Cera’s back. Those intelligent eyes greeted me with a fondness that wasn’t deserved, kindly I nickered to her in response before answering the cherub, “I’m not hurt, only tired—we were called rather suddenly to fight beside Ktulu and her sister. Kri called a clutch of us to aid them in taking over the foothills. The battle was won, but our advantage of numbers did nothing to change the outcome of it.”

As I talk. I walk. Steps a little more brisk now that mouth is moving and the idea of a bath spurs my heels into action, “We honestly were not needed, I fought a brute with Kri and another warrior; only a few enemies showed and their leader was nowhere to be seen.” I think all were still rather disappointed by the fact that our fray had been less than a battle, more like a sentence.

The pools edge approaches and I do not pause. Fina hisses and rising from my back, she had no desire to partake in bathing and instead flees to a nearby tree branch. Wings extend to embrace the cool water, hooves sunk deep in wonderfully mud. It cools my feet and licks a blissful path down each leg. Desert purity washes away the muck and grim from flying and battle. But it doesn’t stop there, I push until body is covered and my neck is the only piece of flesh untouched. I bury muzzle deep within its pits and drink greedily, instantly feeling refreshed as water seeps between the plates and soothes the skin beneath.

Pausing a moment I allow the slow movement to cleanse my armor, crimson melting with blue until not a drop of blood remains. Now that Cera was older I felt like I could share more with him, in fact…I felt that if I didn’t. He would come to hate me for sheltering the truth from him.

your dying love is a rose I have buried somewhere close to you