Cupid's Ax

Tuxtax ran into his sister’s bedroom in a panic. Shaking her dappled wings to wake her, he shouted, “El, help!” His sister awoke with a gasp; she shot out of bed as soon as she saw his bloodied form. “What’s wrong? What happened? Tax, you’re covered in blood!” “It’s not me. Rixa’s been hurt! Someone attacked him—he’s unconscious and bleeding. We need to help him.” Eleuthereia sighed in relief. “You frightened me! I saw you covered in blood and I thought…” Tuxtax ruffled his bronze wings, agitated by her overprotective nature. Wiping the gore from his hands onto his linen kilt, he huffed in impatience. “El, I’m fine. I found him on my pre-dawn flight. I tried to lift him to carry him back here, but he’s too heavy.” “What were you thinking? Of course he’d be too heavy for you.” Tuxtax blushed, his tan cheeks deepening in embarrassment. His sister’s eyes widened, as if perceiving the sting in her words. She quickly added, “He’d be too heavy for any vanth to move, brother. He’s a fully grown centaur. Even if we work together, we’ll struggle to carry him back here.” “We need to try! He’s hurt, El.” “Give me a moment to fetch some supplies.” “We need to go now, El,” Tuxtax huffed. His wings twitched in impatience. “Brother, take a moment to think. What if he needs care before we can move him? I’ll gather up some bandages and ointments from the pantry.” “But…” “I care about Rixa, too, Tax. I just need a minute. Go outside and gather some amaranths while I get what I need. Their nectar will help ease his pain while we carry him. We’ll leave in two minutes. I promise.” While Eleuthereia ran to the pantry, Tuxtax left the double doors of their cottage. He quickly plucked a handful of amaranth blossoms from the vine that adorned their lintel and tucked them behind his ear. His golden eyes darted anxiously around the slopes of his family’s vineyard, then to the road that led from his cottage into town. His heart raced in panic as he saw the other vanths strolling out of their homes and beginning their day. One of his neighbors waved; Tuxtax flinched. Seeing their strong bodies made him blush; he brought up his hands to cover his human features and raced behind his house to avoid being seen in this form. Tuxtax hated not being able to shift into his were-griffin form. All of his peers had grown into their adult forms decades ago; they wore their beaks proudly, and showed off their emerald green feather beards to court their lovers. Some of their beards had already faded into bronze, an anatomical display of their lifelong pledge to their mates. Tuxtax balled his fists in shame. As much as he tried, he couldn’t shift. He was trapped in his human form. Eleuthereia had taken him to every healer in the region, but nothing had worked. After years of embarrassment and shame, he stopped going outside. He spent his days hiding from the others. And now it was already daybreak; he would be seen by the others in his hideous form as he and his sister brought Rixa home. His cheeks burned with shame, but his best friend needed him, so he had to overcome his own pride. Eleuthereia returned a few minutes later with a leather satchel slung across her chest. She wore a bullwhip attached to her linen kilt’s belt; she held out a dagger to her brother and bid him, “Wear it. Just in case.” “Thanks.” Tuxtax nodded and clipped its sheath to his belt. “Where are we going?” He pointed to the east. “The grove of Tisiphone. Come on.” They flew in silence. Once they landed, Tuxtax knelt beside his wounded friend and asked his sister, “Can you help him?” Eleuthereia bent down to examine Rixa and nodded. “We need to get him home quickly. Can you grab his front half, and I’ll grab his hind legs? Together we can carry him back home.” “Aye,” he agreed, gripping Rixa by the waist. “We should hurry—I don’t know who attacked him, or if they’re still nearby.” As Tuxtax lifted is friend in his arms, the semi-conscious centaur whimpered, “Rhea!” * * * * Tuxtax held Rixa’s hand as he watched him struggle to regain consciousness. He and his sister had spent the morning caring for the unconscious centaur’s wounds. Once they carried him back to their cottage, they piled a half dozen mattresses together in their atrium to create a bed large enough for their friend. They smeared his cuts with ointment and bathed the blood from his ruddy fur, then spent the long morning waiting for his condition to change. While Tuxtax watched over his friend, he kept his eye on the door waiting for his sister’s return. She had left several hours ago to look for Rhea—Rixa’s mate—and hadn’t yet returned. He kept hoping that she would find Rhea, and that they would return arm-in-arm with a daring story of near-capture and escape. As soon as Eleuthereia returned, he realized that his hopes were in vain. The look on his sister’s face told him to prepare for the worse. She knelt beside the centaur’s bedside. “Is he awake yet, brother?” Tuxtax shook his head, his dark snaky locks clacking with the motion. “Did you find Rhea?” Tears welled up in his sister’s eyes and her mauve wings sagged. “It was humans. Humans took her—dragged her away. Why would she and Rixa be outside of their town’s gates at night? It’s dangerous.” “They’re lovers, El,” Tuxtax confessed in a whisper. She gasped. “No! You must be mistaken. Rhea is his brother Nyx’s mate, not Rixa’s.” “It’s true. Maybe they were meeting for a tryst? Or they were going to run away together?” Rixa groaned, pulling himself from sleep. “Rhea!” he called, pulling off the blankets that covered him and attempting to get out of bed. Tuxtax and Eleuthereia helped him sit upright so that he could rise. “Rixa, what do you remember?” Eleuthereia asked, concerned. “Rhea! Humans have taken Rhea. I need to go; I need to find her!” the young centaur roared in panic. “We can help fly you back home. You can gather the garrison to rescue her,” Tuxtax offered. Rixa moaned in despair. “No; I’m as good as dead to them. Tax, Rhea is pregnant; she will foal any day now. My brother will kill her if he finds her first.” Tuxtax gasped in shock; he closed his eyes in concentration to come up with a plan. Eleuthereia shook her head. “Your brother is no monster, Rixa; he would never…” “He already has! He caught us in a tryst. He called for the guard.” He took a deep breath and confessed, “There was a struggle. Nyx and I fought. I don’t know if he’s still alive. But Rhea and I barely got out with our lives. We were going to run away to the western springs when the humans attacked. I…I need to go. I need to save her.” Rixa stumbled forward, testing his balance on his wobbly legs. “You cannot go alone, Rixa.” Eleuthereia draped his arm over her shoulders, steadying him as the centaur leaned against her. Tuxtax’s heart yearned to comfort his friend. He swallowed his terror and his dread and volunteered, “I’ll go with you.” He heard Eleuthereia make a little strangled noise of surprise and pride. “What good can you do, little boy?” Rixa sneered with a huff. “Rixa!” Eleuthereia hissed. “I…” Tuxtax spluttered. Rixa replied, “Tuxtax, we are friends, and I love you like a brother. But you’re in no condition to help me. Look at you—you don’t even have a beak yet! You’re still stuck in your juvenile form—how can you battle humans if you can’t shift into your griffin form?” Tuxtax winced at his friend’s words; his mouth became dry, nausea overcame him. He fought back tears. As much as he wanted to deny Rixa’s accusation, the truth of his statement felt like a dagger in his gut. His shame evolved into gratitude as he heard his sister lash out in his defense. Eleuthereia’s eyes narrowed in anger. She squared her shoulders haughtily and spat back, “He can still track the humans. He might be unable to shift, but his aura-reading skills are still sharp. And he still has the warrior training you’ve given him. He is quite lethal with his battle ax.” Rixa laughed. “Lethal? Lethal against targets made of straw? He never goes outside! He hides indoors all day, and only lurks in the shadows. He hasn’t visited our village in a decade.” Finally, Tuxtax found his tongue. “I won’t let you down, Rixa! I’ve let myself down, all these years. I’ve let my sister down—she’s wasted her life waiting for me to grow up, and I haven’t,” “Brother.” Eleuthereia clucked her tongue in sympathy. Tuxtax continued, “But I’m ready. I’ve waited my whole life for something to happen, and it hasn’t. I can’t shift, but I can still help. And I need to do this. I need to move on. El, you need to, too. We can’t stop living our lives waiting for something to change.” Rixa sighed heavily, then nodded. “I suppose your human features can help you infiltrate the enemy. You can hide your wings under a cloak and slip into their ranks to find a way to get Rhea free.” Eleuthereia offered, “Let me help you gather supplies. Rixa, Tuxtax and I can help you track the people who captured Rhea. I will wait for you at Anchor Rock; we can meet there once you’ve freed Rhea and find a safe place for her to birth her foal.” Tuxtax winced at his memories of the place where he had met and lost his soulmate. “Anchor Rock?” Rixa went pale. “You tracked the humans to Anchor Rock?. The humans took my mate into the land of the elves?” She nodded. “I cannot help you fight, but I can use my aura tracking abilities to scan the forest for allies. Perhaps we can find an elf or two who can help us?” Tuxtax shook his head. “Thanks, sister. But you need to go on a quest of your own. You’ve put your life on pause raising me. You need to go out and find your mate. She’s out there somewhere—I’ve met her! She was a cute little blond-haired girl that helped rescue me from humans when I got captured all those years ago…” Eleuthereia’s face fell. “Tax, she’s long dead now. Humans don’t live that long. It’s been eighty-five years since she rescued you. It’s not possible that she’s still alive. It just isn’t.” “But…” Tuxtax spluttered. His sister continued, “She is long in the After, Tux. Besides, I’ll need to help Rhea with her birth. And when she’s free, Rixa, if you would like to remain here with us, you can raise your little one here with us. There’s plenty of room in our cottage; this vineyard is miles away from town, so you’d be safe here from prying eyes of nosy neighbors. And even if you were found here, I’m sure the rest of the vanth colony would support you even if your fellow centaurs won’t.” Rixa bowed in respect. “Thanks.” Tuxtax took a deep breath, finding hope and purpose for the first time in years. He picked up his iron battle ax and rested it against his shoulder, then replied, “So let’s go then. Let’s rescue Rhea!”