VII: The Spark of HopeIt was when Queen Elshen’s son was vowed to take the throne that things took a further turn from the past. Prince Vashel grew up with the knowledge of the war, and how his mother had turned the tide and taken control over the region’s tremendous fragile state. She was praised for it and she was the number one role model in his life. So, when he knew for certain that he would be the successor to the throne after his uncle had married King Dellin, the young man snuck out more often than not.
He travelled, learning about the kinds of people, and Reoseans, that lived within Warrenfall. Finding several packs who were willing to allow him in, he learned their history from their perspective. Saw the world through their eyes, and saw what scars King Aster had left behind. Knowing now their side brought forth a determination in the prince. To learn, to earn the Reosean’s trust and willingness. Once he came of age and soon was to be ascended to kinghood, he instead pleaded with his mother to allow him one final journey. After much deliberation, she gave in, and Prince Vashel left to seek a Reosean willing to follow him. He met several Reoseans on his travels and learned how they lived in the wild, their pack mentality, their societies, and their magic. He kept himself contained to Warrenfall, though the odd journey to his uncle in Roenden was not unwarranted. On his return, however, away from escorts and guards, he found himself drawn to the corners of the harbor, and tucked away behind a storage box was a small, crimson-coated Runner pup. It was malnourished, small- some could have called it a runt- but what stood out the most was its glowing undercoat and enlarged teeth. Prince Vashel took the creature with him and tended to it, fed it what food he could purchase and what little it would eat. He knew, from his studies, that it was a pup afflicted with the corrupted mutations that the war had brought forth. Whether it had come into the harbor of its own volition or abandoned, he did not care. The two could not communicate, with Vashel being a human and the small Runner being too young to bond. Thus, the prince named him Merah. With no one else, Merah followed Prince Vashel everywhere and even without a bond, the two became inseparable. -- Summary of Chapter 7 in the History of Reos scholarly book, written by Vinicius Floren |
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Abridgment: x