Cerulean Cape wave-wracked and wanton

It had been awhile since the crop-eared Gampr had hunted with a large group, and it was an exhilarating and refreshing experience. But it was what came after, the promised telling of stories, that had piqued his interest a great deal. He had been a well-traveled animal back in the day when he lived in the human world – having been aboard boats and planes, setting foot on different continents alongside the Man. And he had heard and seen a great many things, and had a taste for the cultural and mythological variation that was shared amongst dogs living in the shadow of humans. But wolves? He did not know their stories.

So he listens with great interest. First to Aditya’s song. Then Seelie’s dance – oh Seelie, graceful, elegant, perfect Seelie. He smiles when she returns to his side and tucks herself under him, lowering his head to gently lick the side of her face where water droplets still glisten in her silky fur, and he whispers softly in her ear, “Beautiful.”

He then turns his attention back to the group, listening to as each wolf steps forward and volunteers their voice to either a song or story. And when Serein is finished, he offers up his own tale, though it is admittedly fairly abridged to leave out the presence of humans that existed in the story when his father had told it to him as a pup.

“There is a story that is told in my homeland, about the Great War and the Aralez. It is said that many years ago, my ancestors – the dogs of Armavir – went to war against an invading force. The battle lasted many days, and the invaders were strong and many in number. So much so that on the fifth day only one of the Armavir soldiers – a young dog named Rakesh – remained standing against a hundred of the invaders. Rakesh could have turned and run, letting the invaders swarm in and take the homeland, but instead he looked off towards the mountain peak of distant Ararat where the Gods lived and howled a great battle cry in their honor before charging the invading pack.

He was killed swiftly, but his call echoed across the land and up to the snowcapped peaks of the mountain where the Aralez heard his cry. They looked down from the mountain and saw what had transpired, and saw the loyalty that Rakesh had to his homeland, that he would lay down his life to defend it even though the odds were so great that he had no hope to survive. So they descended from the clouds onto the battlefield and touched each of the fallen Armavir soldiers, granting them life and strength. And they rose up as one and defeated the invaders. For Rakesh’s loyalty, the Aralez granted him a place amongst the Gods on Ararat.”