Fanfic on Balto Source

Somewhere in the east, within the giant mountain range known as the Devil's Peaks, Fren sat in a cavern, reading the tome he had taken from the Elani Valkar he had murdered.  As his  brown eyes  reflected the flames of the nearby fire, taking in every description and every detail, a voice spoke.

You are foolish to think this tome can accomplish what you seek!

Fren merely kept reading. The voice tried again.

Separating a dual personality has never been done, Fren!  At least  never alone.  Your obsession to cleanse yourself of me could mean the death of us!

"It is your constant bickering that makes me want to be rid of you!" snapped Fren at last.  "This body is mine and after today, it shall be only mine."

The voice seemed to back off, stunned.  Then it seemed to get some composure.  You know full well the body you control was mine once.  You used to be where I am now. 

 Fren laughed.  "If you can't control your own body, there's no use for you to keep it.  Besides, once the transition is complete and I am free of you, you'll have your own body."

You don't know the consequences! snapped the voice.

"Silence!"  roared Fren, getting to his feet, his eyes glowing from the amount of emotion and power he suddenly unleashed.  Halos of bright light: purple, pink, red, blue, black, and white flashed around the cavern; encircling the lone man.
 
The voice became afraid.  You are mad.  You couldn't have!

Fren extended his hand; the halos warped into a single beam of  changing light, purple once then blue the next until Fren could've sworn he had seen all the colors known in existence.  The beam wrapped itself around Fren's arm.

You only had the tome for three days!  You couldn't have learned the right--

"You underestimate me, my dual personality," growled Fren , still holding his arm aloft, his voice raising to a victorious  roar. "Now I can be free of you forever!" 

Fren plunged his hand into his chest and the world was filled with light and screaming.  Not just the voice's but his own as well.  In a flash the world he had ever known disappeared, leaving him feeling his own agony.


Claire lay no less than five paces from him, sleeping peacefullly, his green-grey cloak wrapped around her, hiding her nakedness . They had stayed there that night loving each other until both fell asleep in each other's arms.  Tais had changed from his white sparring shirt to his dark tunic after a nice refreshing bath in the shallow river that weaved twenty feet from where he sat. 

Tais loved the morning, in his view, it was a feeling of rebirth; another day to do what you didn't do the day before.  He ran his hand through the dew covered grass then remembered it was likely Claire was as well.  He crawled over to where she lay.
As he thought, dew had covered her as well, though not as much.  Her body heat, he assumed, rid her most of the wet stuff.  He brushed off a few droplets that were in her dark hair, causing her to stir. 

"Tais..."  she mumbled, her dark eyes beginning to open.

"Hush," he replied, pulling her close to him, her head resting in his lap.  "The morning is still early.  You can rest."

Claire touched his hand resting on her left cheek, pressing it against her flesh.  "You should as well, love."

Tais was about to reply when he heard the sound of horses, two of them.  Though they were in a forest known to them, many dangers lurked in the depth of the forest.  Bandits and road robbers were known to take refuge here though the forest was well known and infamous for one of the locations of the Valkar Order.  The valkar had, for many year, attempted to clear the forest of bandits and raiders but they always returned.

Tais stood and grasped the hilt of his sword which hung off a branch at shoulder height and drew the blade.  Claire dropped Tais cloak and summoned her robes, which were at the base of the oak, to her body.  Once flesh was covered, she summoned her own sword, which hung next to Tais's, to her hand.  All of this was done within seconds time. 

The hoofbeats were close enough for Tais to begin to look in the edges of the clearing for the person approaching. 

"Tais," Claire said, pointing eastward. 

Tais turned to see, indeed, a horse-like figure though the being himself wouldn't call himself a horse; nor would his female counterpart.  "Jan! Well met!"

Jan, a strongly built unicorn, a sable brown all over save for a white mask on his face, two socks on the hind legs, and white highlights in his whip-like tail.  His mane stood on end, all of his hooves were two seperate toes, and his tail was  like a whip  the traditional traits of a unicorn. 

The mighty unicorn bowed his head in greeting, though Tais noted it was done almost in a rush, as if Jan either had other things to do or he was exhausted.  "Well met Tais," he breathed, making Tais conclude it was the latter.  "Urgent news from the Order!"

"Tell us after you have drank from the river, Jan." said Claire, guiding Jan to the water.  "You seem to have ran a long way."

"Yes, I have," the unicorn said reluctantly.  He nodded at his  young female counterpart, a grey dappled with white spots unicorn  that was almost the size of Jan. Tais had never seen her before.   But Claire recongized her.

"Raihenza! Well met!"

The grey bowed in greeting.  "Famous One," Raihenza replied, using Claire's ancient meaning.  "Many days have passed since we've last met.  It is unfortunate the day we meet again is one of mourning"

"Mourning?! What news from the Counsel?" asked Tais as Jan drank deeply from the river.  The brown unicorn looked straight into his eye.

"Elani Valkar Karis is dead."

Claire eyes widened with horror and disbelief.   When Claire was twelve just an apprentice at the time, not even a valkar yet Elani Karis had been her teacher.  He taught her not just the ways and teaching and the arts of the valkar but also the lessons essiential for life.  For Claire, he became her second father, and she was proud to have known him as such.

"He can't be." she cried.  "I would've felt his death."

"Many people would've felt him die, Claire," replied Jan, "He made many attatchments."

"But I was like a daughter to him, I was his first apprentice!"

Jan snorted softly, a sign of growing irritation.  "Claire, there were elani and valkar in the area where Elani Karis was.  You should know better then everyone else here: we feel life and death."  He left unsaid the countless lives Claire had taken when she was a valkar. 

"The fact is," Jan continued, as Claire looked away and sighed. "Karis death was hidden, blocked I should say.  I am skilled in the art of the valkar and a little of the elani, and not even the strength of an elani can block a person's death.  Except--"

"The Dark arts." finished Tais. 

Jan nodded, causing his forelock to fall into his left eye.  He tossed his head, whickering, "Damn forelock."

Tais whirled to face Claire and saw she had already came to the same conclusion. 

"The Draikar."



Chapter Two

Nome, Alaska Outskirts of town


Luna was dead.  Dead.

The horrible fact kept hitting him like waves of arrows, missing his vital organs and only hitting the organs that fed agony and grief. 

Steele lay at the base of the grave where his love lay.

Three days he had lain there, waiting.  Waiting for the day that would never come: the day when his love rose from the grave to run with him forever across the Wolf's Path, the milky cluster of stars humans called the Milky Way.

Passed down from the ancestors of dogs, the wolves, it is believed when you die on this world, you leave only your body for you do not need it anymore.  You run into the sky--high and higher, until at last your paws touch the milky path called the Wolf's Path, where you will run side by side with those you love into the beyond.
  
Luna...

She had died the same way Tek had. 

She had been attacked bitten by a diseased dog.  Luna lost her left eye.  The dog lost its life. 

And Steele felt the world he had ever known plunge into a dark abyss.

Knowing what would happen if she remained near humans, Steele took her to the forest bordering the town to a cave that once housed one of Balto's children and his family.  The cave had been deserted for two months, according to the old scents. 

It a week for the disease to begin its deadly work on Luna. Oddly though, she was not driven mad or forced into a deadly state that posed a danger to herself and Steele.  The disease, Steele soon realized, was eating away not on her sanity but her inner body.  She was dying from the inside.

We've roamed the wild country
My beautiful Luna
Side by side we've hunted
Aurora dancing on northern skies

  There have been times of plenty
We were content and serene
Peacefully sleeping
Dangers few and far between

  We've known much hunger
Ribs protruding from each side
Mournfully we howled
When our unborn cubs died

Ah my dear, Luna
I've known no greater love
Without you, I am nothing
Our wild souls are one

And now you lay there dying

The horrible disease eating away 
Steel jaws upon your frame
Life's blood slowly seeping
I whimper your sweet name

  Helpless, I watch you struggle
Chest heaving with labored breath
Steel jaws clenching tighter
Winds whisper the song of death

  The blood has now stopped flowing
I know the time is near
And you will forever leave me
My love, my life, my dear

  And now my world is silent
Your struggles now have ceased
I lay my head upon you
And know you are at peace

Perhaps your soul has lifted
To skies where the Wolf's Path glistens
And there you'll greet your brothers

To run with them forever more

  And someday I shall find you
In the heaven's so far above
And when our wild soul's unite
There'll be no greater love

 Later that night, it started to rain. Soaked with water, Steele started clawing at the ground. His lover’s body lay beside him. His paws were dirty with mud and blood, but he continued to dig relentlessly at the ground. Soon, he made a hole, and the rain had stopped, leaving a clear sky in its wake. It was almost morning. The proud once arrogant husky, who had hurt hundreds without a thought, buried the young wolf, his mate, with a heavy heart.

Steele winced as the sun rose over the mountains that grew on the borders of Nome, his blue eyes bloodshot and tired.

It was the dawn of the fourth day since Luna died.  His white chest was stained with Luna's blood from her last moments, his ribs showing on his sides; he hadn't eaten anything since she died.  What kept him alive was water and only that, though now something now drove him. 

Determination. And the will to live.

Twice now, he had lost someone he had loved dearly, both taken by the insane disease that drove any who received the bite mad and dangerous.  Too many wolves and dogs have suffered from losing a loved one to the disease, even Balto lost a daughter to it.

No one should suffer like so, watching a loved one transform into something so low it could never be considered another living being.

"There must be a cure!" Steele said outloud, startling a chipmunk, making it drop its nuts and disappear into its hole.

Steele got to his feet, his limbs shaking.  He was weak from hunger. 

Damn.  I shouldn't have starved myself.  Now I might not have the strength to carry on

But Luna's final wish for Steele to live on burned in his mind.  Summoning all the strength he could muster, he began his trek back to Nome.

Steele's quest to find a cure for rabies had begun.



Chapter Three
 
Draikar were an ancient faction of believers, though not as old as the valkar.   Long ago there were only valkar, but as the old saying says, "The ying is never without the yang."  Many factions broke off the original valkar, the order Tais and Claire belong to, but the most formidable of all the factions were the Draikar.  Formed under the leadership of the original draikar, Drailia, the draikar lived to the code: "No mercy; only the weak do not surrive; and the last enemy to be destroyed is death."  Drailia's dream was to united the twisted world she had grown up in under one banner, ruled by her own rule.  With hundreds of her followers, she began to conquer the continent of Lahen.

One by one, lands fell to the banner of the Draikar: Jenika, the Great Plains, even Laerhen, the mystic land of the elves. But ho! The original valkar rose to meet them on the borders of Wenn, the last free land in the south.  Beside them were the legendary legions of knights of Wenn, all bearing the crests and flags of a wolf and a sword.  Joining their ranks were remenants of the armies of Jenika, the plains people, and the elves.  Their dwellings now endangered, griffins took flight and unicorns took to the land, revealing themselves for the first time in history to the eyes of all.  Thus the Valkar Coalition and the Allied Alliance was formed.

A great battle ensued over the last free land.   Brother fought brother, kin fought kin, and blood spilled upon blood.  Soon the land was red, lakes of blood and bodies scattered the knolls and  stained the rivers.

Five days later, after the Valkar Allied Alliance had been pushed back from the border into the valley of Wenn, restlessness was stirring within the Draikar.  Though they had pushed their foes into the very land they were defending, the Draikar had suffered many numbers and allies.  On one account, due to the recklessness of one of their generals, the Draikar had lost the support of the Silver Griffin Wing, the Elite of the Elite of any griffin coalition, who sided with the Valkar Allied Alliance; unknowingly turning the very fate of the war.  It would be one of the Silver Wing griffins who would spy on the Draikar, learn of the Grand Leader's demise at the hands of her own daughter, tell the Allaince, and spark the fire of detirmination within the hearts of those who had despaired and lost all hope.

According to wittness accounts written in scrolls passed down through the centuries, the final battle was brief but not without sacrifice.  Thirty unknown valkar died at the hands of Drailia's daughter and countless more died upon the swords and arrows of her follwers.      

It wasn't until a young valkar named Prisana, already wounded in her side and her left arm almost incapable of movement, engaged the Draikar leader.  Drailia's daughter herself was wounded, more or less as much as Prisana but she was formidable nevertheless.  Prisana managed to wound Drailia's daughter and the Draikar leader made her pay with the loss of her arm and a mortal wound through her chest. 

But Prisana wasn't finished finished yet.  Summoning all her strength through waves of pain, she struck her enemy in the neck with a sword, one of many that had fallen from the warriors who fought that day.  With the death of their leader, the Draikar fled with the Alliance in persuit. 

The Draikar seemingly faded completely from the ends of the earth, leaving behind their mortal coalition; mortal followers who followed out of fear.   Very now and then, a draikar may appear; using his or her power for their own gain. When such events happen, valkar are sent to ensure the land never falls into the hand of a draikar.

When the Great War came to an end, so came the dawn of the New Age and the fall of the Old. 

In every city, statues of Prisana stand in memory of the young woman who is known to have ended the Great War. 

Her sword, the one that killed Drailia's daughter, was taken by the Valkar Order to present to their most gifted and wisest student elected by vote of the Valkar counsel.  Upon receiving the blade, whoever being that may be, valkar knighthood is bestowed and the name 'Prisana'. 

  
 Chapter Four


"A draikar you say?" said Elani Valkar Tannis, looking over his specs at the two young adults before him.

Three weeks had passed since Claire and Tais recieved the message from Jan and now they stood before the Valkar Counsel that was housed within the capital city of Wenn, Aurora Arbor. 
The Counsel consisted of eight Elani: two human males, Elani Tannis, a Jenikia citizen, and Elani Curcus, a Wenn citizen a strong black man who towered over all in the Counsel; two human females, Elani Kirstin, a Wenn citizen, and Elani Megan, a Wenn citizen; two unicorns, male and female--Elani Oakwood and Whitestar respectfully; one female elf, Elani Sa; and one male griffin, Elani Razor.   

Claire nodded.  "It would make sense.  No Elani or valkar being able to sense a person's death.  The feeling of the loss of life was just...not there.  Blocked."

"Of course it would make sense if it was a draikar, Elani Claire." said Elani Razor, his eagle eye watching her closely, his lion's tail waving as if he was watching a prey.  "But not all is as it seems.  Maybe there's another form of magic we don't know about, created by one of the many factions that broke off the  original Valkar Order centuries ago."

"One of the factions that broke from us soon called themselves  the Unikar," said Elani Oakwood, his whip-like tail snapping through the air though there were no insects around.
 
"They dedicated themselves to finding any possible way to be both a valkar and a draikar," finished Elani Whitestar.  "Some say they succeeded while others say they down right failed."

"Whether they did or not, we can not let the possiblity stand," rumbled Elani Curcus.  "Before we reach any conclusions, we must investigate if it is possible."

Tais stood slightly behind Claire, watching her and the Counsel exchange words and occasionally verbal duels.  He himself was never good with the gift of tongue, a gift Claire demonestrated now, her words timed perfectly.  Should she ever join politics, she would've be one of the best, Tais thought with a smile. 

Just then Claire started to breath heavily. 

"Claire my dear, are you alright?" asked Elani Tannis, concerned.

 Tais started forward but Claire waved him off. 

"It's...it's just a headache." she said.  "Nothing more." 

Tais frowned.  Nothing more was an understatement.  During the three weeks it took them to ride to Wenn, Claire had not only suffered from headaches but also backaches and fatigue.

Unseen, Oakwood and Whitestar exchanged glances with the elf, Elani Sa.  The two unicorns had both seen Claire's condition and Sa confirmed.  Kirstan and Megan, both being mothers and nannys in their younger ages caught on as well.   They whispered to Sa who then whispered into Elani Tannis's ear.  After a moment of pondering, Tannis replied. 

Claire caught only a snitch of it.

"--her condition.  The mission won't do it any harm.  Besides she has Tais to help her."

"But ignorance of it." said Razor, shaking his head, growling.

Tannis raised his hand, silencing any more objections to his decision.  Though all Counsel members had equal status and no one had actually elected Tannis to Grand Elani status, Tannis had been with the Counsel since the fall of the Draikar--the members  of the counsel respected his word and decisions and followed his example.
 
"Elani Claire Prisana,"said Tannis, straightening his specs.  Claire straightened, her headache gone...for the moment.  "You are to look for the Unikar and confirm if they have indeed suceeded in uniting a valkar and a draikar.  If so, Valkar Tais will track down the valkar hybrid and bring the being before the Counsel for judgement. You will accompany him but not engage in any combat, is that clear?"

Tais was puzzled by the Counsel's decision and he was not alone.  Claire blinked at the Counsel for a moment then seemed to understand and said, "Understood." 

Tannis waved at the pair.  "You may go." 

Once the young man and woman were gone, Elani Curcus sighed deeply.  "Who do you think is the father?"

"Do you really need to ask?" said Megan, Oakwood,  Whitestar , and Kirstan at the same time. 

"Who it is is quite obvious," growled Razor.  "Don't tell me you haven't heard the rumors?  Their relationship is gossip throughout all of Lahen, though it is more of fact here in Wenn."

Wenn was where the Great War was fought and where Prisana had died.  Her body was cremated where she had fallen, holding the sword she had wielded.  But the sword had survived the fire and ever since, the knighting of the sucessor of the sword was held where her ashes lay.  There had been five Prisanas since the Great War and Claire was the sixth.  It was common for the citzens of Wenn to have the most recent news of the Prisana daily life.  

"But is it really necessary for her pregnancy to be kept from her?" asked Whitestar, who had a filly and coalt only a season gone.  "Knowledge of it would bring Tais and Claire closer to one another."

"But its also a double edged sword, Whitestar," said Tannis.  "Tais would become more protective of Claire and his views of duty and love will be distorted.  In her condition, Claire can fight.  But as the days lengthen, she will be vulnerable...and there are many people who want her dead."

Being the Prisana was both a blessing and a curse.  Some people loved you and others hated for it.  Whoever walked the path of the Prisana, death walked beside them.   

"Tais must be able to defend Claire without knowing of the progeny in her womb.  The knowledge of it will confuse Tais for he doesn't know how to be a father.  And Claire doesn't know how to be a mother.
"Which is why I told Claire to let Tais do the combat and her only to aid Tais if it goes ill for him." said Tannis.

Curcus ran his hand through his beard.  "I believe Claire may have misunderstood you then."  He smiled as Tannis turned to him startled. 

"What!  If so, please summon them back!" He shouted to the counsel aids, a boy and girl.  The aids ran form the room only to return seconds later, shaking their heads. 

"Sorry Elani Tannis, they have phased." Phase jumping was a fast way to get to one place to another short distance wise.

"Oh damn."  Tannis said it as if he walked into a brick wall.

Curcus laughed.  "I believe Claire thought you were asking for her to watch Tais do his Elani trial rites!  Did you see her face lighten with hope?"

"Hope that her love will finally be the same rank as her and she will be the one to knight him," interjected Sa, smiling.  "Love amongst humans never change."

Curcus wagged an index finger at the elf.  "Hey, you elves court with each other as we do!"

Sa, still smiling, said.  "But we do it almost every hundred years.  We are patient."

"Oooh, you are so asking for it."

Razor, Oakwood, and Whitestar watched the humans and the elf bicker as the friends as they were, merrily and polite.  The griffin shook his head.

"Humanoids, I will never understand them," he said under his breath, so the others wouldn't hear and bring their attention to him and the unicorns.

"Same here, Razor," whispered Oakwood.  "To think a while back, they thought their virgin woman singing in a glade would draw us unicorns into the open."

"Well Oakwood," said Whitestar, nipping at her companion playfully.  "That was when they thought all unicorns were male.  Wasn't your great great great great great grandfather the first unicorn to be drawn into the open by a virgin girl singing, thus begining the legend?"

"Don't you start that again! My grandfather--"

Razor laughed, a purring sound emitting from his throat, as the unicorns now were bickering merrily like their humanoid friends.  He walked from the room, spread his wings, and took flight; flying home.