Book of Venoms - 22. Epilogue

“Do you need help with that?” Alice Lunaros asked her husband as he passed by her, carrying two large buckets of water for the pigs.

“Nah, I’m good,” Bryan replied, moving swiftly toward the pigsty and carrying the buckets as if they weighed nothing. Having worked on the farm his whole life had made him strong and kept him in pretty good shape. Aged forty-three, he was much tougher and more agile than most young men in their twenties. Still, Alice couldn’t help but worry that he was going to overwork himself. With their children still missing, she had to focus her motherly nature on someone, and her husband seemed to be the closest person available.

“Are you sure? Slow down, will ya, or you’ll spill the whole thing,” she commented, looking over at him as she went to get some corn for the chickens.

“Worry not, my white dove…” Bryan started singing, ignoring her remarks. It would have been easy to tease her about her overprotective nature, but he knew his wife very well and realized that her heart was in the right place. Also, with Castor and Cyr still gone, she was even more concerned and paranoid than usual.

While Macarius’ visit a few days ago did ease Bryan’s mind a little, Alice was still on edge almost all the time. Even though the sorcerer assured her the twins were alright, she could not calm down - not until they were back in her arms.

Bryan opened the door to the pigsty and entered, all of the pigs immediately rushing to his side, oinking and sniffing around his legs, waiting to see what he brought them. As he filled the drinking trough with water, they all focused their attention on it, lapping up the water as if they hadn’t drunk anything in ages.

On the other side of the yard, Alice walked over to the large chicken coop, which housed over two dozen hens and a few roosters. The woman carried a wooden bowl filled to the brim with corn. As soon as the birds spotted her, they ran over to the wire fence, waiting to be let outside. It was the same routine every day - Alice would open the door and while the chickens were outside, she would refill their dishes with food, throw the stale, dirty water out and replace it with fresh, cold water.

Just as she was about to open the wooden door and let the chickens out, something in the distance caught her attention - several figures moving past the pear and cherry trees planted in their orchard. She wasn’t expecting any visitors, though.

As soon as she turned around, Alice let out a loud gasp and dropped the bowl she was holding, corn spilling at her feet and all over the grass. There in the distance stood her sons along with Sawyer. She could not believe her own eyes.

“Bryan!” the woman shrieked and rushed over to meet the three smiling boys, forgetting all about the chickens jumping at the fence in an effort to get out. It was a miracle! Tears were already flowing down her cheeks and there was no stopping them.

“What?!” her husband said as he exited the pigsty, looking at the mess Alice made with the corn. “Yeah, I’m the one who’s gonna spill-” he started to say, but then looked to the side and stopped in his tracks, as if struck by lightning. There were his two sons - his family made whole again!

On the verge of tears, the man rushed over after his wife, who was already threatening to suffocate all three boys with hugs.

“Oh Gods, I can’t believe this! Is it really you? It’s not a trick?” Alice cried out, refusing to let go of the boys in case they somehow disappeared again. She would never let them out of her sight ever again!

“It’s us, mom, we’re really back!” Castor hugged his mother back, unable to stop grinning. It felt as though he was gone for a full year - he had no idea he could ever miss his home and his parents as much as he did.

“My babies! Let me look at you,” the woman wept, staring at her sons in disbelief.

“Come on, woman, let them breathe!” Bryan grunted, but as Alice stepped aside, he moved in and did exactly what she had done, pulling the boys into a big bear hug. “My boys… Do you have any idea how much you scared your mother?”

As Bryan let them go and leaned back to look at them, the boys could see the tears in his eyes and the smile on his face. It was a rare sight to see their father cry.

Castor couldn’t help but feel guilty for doing this to his parents - if he hadn’t run away after Cyr, they wouldn’t have suffered so much. But at the time, he wasn’t thinking about them at all - he was only thinking of his brother.

“It’s not like we wanted to go away,” Cyr finally said, pursing his lips. “Well, at least I didn’t,” he added, rolling his eyes at the other two boys, which earned him a playful shove from Sawyer.

“We missed you too, dad!” Castor said, his voice breaking.

“It’s good to see you again, Mr and Mrs Lunaros. I knew we’d be back - but we had to get Cyr!” Sawyer added. He felt good about seeing the twins’ parents first. Meeting his own family would be much more difficult and emotional.

“I shall pray to the Gods every day to thank them for bringing you back to me,” Alice cried out, reaching out for the boys again and petting them on their heads. “I thought I would never see you again! Are you all alright? You’re not hurt, are you?” she asked, looking them over from head to toe for any signs of bruises, wounds or - Gods forbid - missing limbs.

“We’re fine, mom,” Cyr said, wriggling out of his mother’s grasp. “But we’re hungry.”

“Oh, I’m so happy to hear that! All of these days, I’ve been cooking just for your father. I barely even ate anything. Come on inside, I’ll make you whatever you want, and you’ll tell me all about what happened. You too, Sawyer, come on,” Alice said, motioning for the boys to follow her.

“Thank you, Mrs Lunaros, but I should go home, my parents must be so worried and I don’t want to keep them waiting,” the young sorcerer replied politely.

“Of course,” the woman nodded and smiled benevolently at the boy. “Say hello to your parents for me!”

“I’ll walk you out,” Castor offered, taking his boyfriend’s hand.

“See you later, Sawyer,” Cyr waved to the blond boy, who looked up and waved back.

“See ya! And don’t get in any more trouble without me, alright?”

“Oh, I’ve had enough trouble for a lifetime,” Cyr replied with a smile, shaking his head as he followed his parents into the house, happy that he was back where he belonged.

~~

Kingdom of Alduin - six months later

Along with eight other boys and girls, all about the same age as he, Castor sat on a large, comfortable pillow on the floor of the makeshift classroom, his full attention directed at the tall, auburn-haired Lykos in front of him.

“You have to remember that being a shifter is not just a special ability you use for fun,” Rulf explained as he sat in front of his class. “It is an essential part of who you are. Your animal form is as much a part of you as your human form. That is why you should nurture it, explore it and respect it.”

All eyes were on him, as all kids listened attentively to his words. When Esthor started giving sorcery lessons to young, aspiring sorcerers, Rulf never imagined himself to follow in his boyfriend’s footsteps. However, he quickly realized that there were many cases just like Castor’s - children and adolescents who didn’t get to use their animal form much and didn’t have much knowledge of shifting. Sometimes it was because the society looked down upon them - as was the case with Lykos, and sometimes because they were simply afraid of who they were - like Castor used to be.

Rulf decided to help these kids by teaching them about shifting and providing them with a safe space where they could freely shift and play in their animal forms, no matter what they were. Everyone was accepted - venomous snakes and spiders, wild boars, crocodiles... anyone! There was even a pair of shifters - a wolf and a lamb - who had learned to play together and became best friends.

“Alright, I think that’s it for today,” the Lykos said as he finished the class. “Tomorrow, we’ll have another evening class, when the sun goes down, so we can all shift and spend time together in our animal forms. We’ll meet outside because we’ll need some more space, am I right?” he added, winking at a dark-haired girl in the back. Even though she was among the shortest students in class, her animal form was a giraffe, which made her quite popular with the others.

As soon as they were dismissed, the students shot up from their seats on the floor and ran outside, making a lot more noise than Esthor would find acceptable. Rulf, however, just smiled and shrugged - they were just being teenagers, and being loud came with the territory.

As usual, Castor stayed behind, waiting for his teacher to neatly arrange the pillows in a simple wooden closet.

“Going to see Sawyer?” Rulf asked after he was done cleaning up.

“Yeah,” Castor nodded. “He should be finished with the class soon, I think.”

“Shall we go together, then?” the Lykos suggested, and the two of them went over to the other part of the house, where Esthor held his magic classes.

On Mondays and Tuesdays, the sorcerer held group classes, while on Thursdays and Fridays, he gave individual classes, helping each student with specific areas of sorcery they were struggling with. That day, Sawyer decided he wanted to practice the spell of communicating via reflective surfaces. It was something he hadn’t managed to get the hang of even though he technically knew how to perform the spell.

The problem was that the spell depended on many factors - the distance between the caster and the target, how well they know each other, as well as the skill of the caster.

After a few minutes of sitting and waiting in the large living room, Castor looked up to see his boyfriend enter, followed by Esthor himself.

“Hey, how was the class?” the snake shifter asked, but judging by the big smile on Sawyer’s face, he could already guess the answer.

“Awesome! I did it! I finally did the spell!” the young sorcerer beamed with joy and pride, running over to Castor and hugging him.

“Aww, see, I told you you’d get it right!” Castor gushed, giving him a peck on the lips.

“Congratulations, kiddo! Just don’t start calling us in the middle of the night, alright?” Rulf said, smiling as Esthor came over and stood next to him, leaning into him. “So, he’s got potential?”

“Definitely,” Esthor nodded, looking proudly at his student. “We had to repeat it several times to make sure he got it right, but I think he’s got it now. Although, I don’t think Khalgos appreciated us calling him nine times within the hour, but what can you do… All in the name of education,” he added with a smirk.

After saying their goodbyes, Castor and Sawyer left the living room and went downstairs to their small bedroom, where they were staying during the course of their classes. The boys thought it was nice of Esthor to offer accommodation to students who lived far away, but then again, when you have his magical skills, you can create as much space as you need.

“So tell me, how does it feel being a grand sorcerer?” Castor teased as he and Sawyer undressed, preparing to take a bath together.

“I don’t even care that you’re joking, it feels amazing!” Sawyer squealed, almost jumping out of his underpants. “The last few times, I did the spell all on my own, without Esthor helping me!”

“That’s great!”

“Yeah, it is… You know, I also tried calling Dymia and Jarin,” Sawyer replied. It was then that the shifter noticed his boyfriend’s smile had suddenly disappeared.

“Hey, what’s the matter? DId you manage to speak to them? Are they alright?” Castor asked as he stood by the large wooden bath filled with water, waiting for Sawyer to warm it up with his magic.

“Yes, I talked to them. Everyone is fine: Dymia is still with her grandparents, helping around in their orchards and fields. And guess what - Ercil and Magana had gotten married! They’re living together with Jarin in Lanercost. But… Jarin seems angry and lost. I think his mother’s death really hit him hard. He asked me if I knew anything about Xaviel and Cassandra. Cas, I think he wants to go after them,” Sawyer explained. Once he finished warming up the water, he entered the tub and Castor followed.

“Ohh… Poor guy. I don’t blame him, though,” Castor spoke, looking sad as he remembered all about the battle at the Citadel. “It’s truly horrible what happened back there. At least he’s got his brother and Magana, you know? They’re his family too.”

“True, they seem to be getting along. I just hope he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“Me too. Well, we’re just going to have to keep checking up on him to make sure he’s alright!” the shifter suggested. “Hey, maybe later we can call Cyr to see what he’s doing?”

“Yes! We’re gonna surprise him!” Sawyer replied, a tentative smile returning to his pretty face.

“We better buy him something. You know he’s going to ask us if we brought him anything as soon as we return home.”

“We’ll get him that history book he wants so much,” the sorcerer suggested, washing his body with soap.

A few minutes later, he felt his boyfriend’s foot under the water, approaching his groin and tickling him right where he was most sensitive. He cracked a big smile as he saw the naughty look in Castor’s eyes.

“Alright, you’re not the only one who’s going to have fun!”

“Oh! Hihihi!” Castor giggled as his boyfriend reciprocated, tickling him between the legs. “Stop, you’ll get me hard!”

“That’s the idea!” the blond boy grinned, leaning over to kiss his boyfriend on the lips and enjoying the warmth of their bodies so close together.

~~

The night was cold as west winds swept through Thenelle, the capital of Alduin, announcing the arrival of winter. With a chill in the air and the distant moon as the only source of light, it was no wonder everyone was inside, sleeping peacefully in their warm homes. Well, almost everyone.

He woke up that night in a foul mood, as it had taken him ages to finally fall asleep. He just couldn’t get comfortable on the old, hard bed in his room. He had no choice, though, so he had to get used to it. After a lot of tossing and turning, he managed to calm down and sleep finally came to him. But then, just as he dozed off, this strange noise stirred him out of his slumber.

“Uhh, what in the name of Gods is it now?” he muttered grumpily, pulling the covers over his head, hoping the noise would cease and he would continue sleeping.

No such luck, though. Instead of dying out, the strange sounds just got louder and louder, as if something was approaching him.

“Bloody hell,” he grunted, sitting up in his bed and leaning against the wall. He scratched his graying beard nervously, not knowing what was happening. Was he in danger? Maybe he should call for help? No, there would be no point in that, he decided, sitting perfectly still and waiting.

Strangely enough, the noise seemed to be coming from the ground. There was loud scratching and scraping, as if someone – or something – was trying to claw its way up from the hellish depths and reach the surface.

His mind was swarming with wild thoughts, remembering all the real and mythical creatures he had ever heard of. Maybe one of them was digging through the ground, coming to claim him as their next victim, slash him open and have a feast. He shuddered at the thought. Even though fate hadn’t been exactly kind to him lately, he didn’t want to end up like that. He wanted to live.

Finally, the scraping sound stopped and the ground collapsed, a large hole appearing in the middle of the room.

He held his breath as he heard movement. Something was coming out onto the surface. There was a clang and rustling of clothes, and then… a human voice.

“Finally!” the stranger said, out of breath, as he let his shovel fall to the floor and hoisted himself up. His voice was not familiar.

“W-who is that? What do you want?” the bearded man asked nervously, still on his bed.

“You,” the stranger replied, approaching him. “I’m here to take you away.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” the man shook his head.

The stranger sat on the bed next to him.

“Don’t tell me you prefer staying here? Because I don’t really believe that.”

“I... of course not! What’s it to you anyway?”

“Then what is the problem?” the stranger asked, almost humorously. “I thought I’d be more welcome. After all, I am doing you a favor here.”

Was this real or was it his mind playing tricks on him? He couldn’t be sure anymore. He had been in this place for so long that he had lost track of time. Days, weeks and months started to blend together; he had no clue how long he had been there. Was it possible that his time had finally come?

He was silent for a few more seconds, but then got up from the bed, almost startling the stranger. If this was a second chance he was being given, he would seize it without hesitation!

“Very well then, let’s go!” he said with determination. Better to get out of here before this person, whoever it is, changes their mind.

“Good choice,” the stranger replied. “Come with me. Careful...”

Slowly, the stranger helped him descend into the tunnel before going down after him, grabbing his shovel before disappearing into the ground.

The smell of earth hit him hard as they crawled through the tunnel the stranger came through. He had no idea where they were heading or how long they had to go. Still, he could hear the stranger following him closely, so he knew he wasn’t abandoned or tricked - at least not yet. No matter what, this was a risk he had to take.

“Who are you? And where do you plan to take me?” the bearded man kept insisting for some answers, although he was quite certain he would get none.

“I came to help you. Take you out of here, to freedom,” the stranger explained, mysterious as ever.

After what seemed like hours in the cramped space of the narrow tunnel, the stranger stopped for a moment. “We’re almost there,” he announced.

It was uncomfortable and difficult, but if it would take him to freedom, he couldn’t complain. Indeed, after several more minutes of crawling on all fours, he could feel a slight incline – a sign they were reaching the surface. As he felt a dose of fresh air hitting his nostrils, he knew they were there. Finally!

“Freedom!” he exclaimed, getting out of the tunnel with the help of the stranger pushing him from behind. He could feel the wet grass on his hands as he knelt down and breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with oxygen. It felt incredible. He could barely remember the last time he breathed in fresh air.

The stranger came out a moment later and sat beside him.

“Is it true? I’m free again?” he asked, almost afraid to believe it.

“Yes, it’s true,” the stranger nodded.

“But why?”

“Because, Norius,” the stranger whispered, looking at the man who wore a blindfold over his eyes, “I believe Alduin needs its king once again.”

---

That's it - we've come to the end! I'd like to thank everyone who came on this journey and I hope you had fun!
See you again at some point in the future... But for now, thank you and farewell!