Prologue: Turn the Tide

[spnfox]

The egg pulsed being in new hands, it was as if the life with in knew it was no longer safe. Tara scrambled to her feet , clutching her side painfully as she watched her mother fend for her bravely. She was terrified, yet proud all at once to be her daughter, so it was with her mothers final order she nodded her little head and made a run for the bunker. Her head turning over her shoulder , regrettably running from the egg she cherished over the past 6 months. Orayion came up to the scene just as he heard his beloved scream for their eldest to run. His blood boiling as he rushed for her " Meadre! " he called for her, but it was in doing so he felt he had made a grave mistake. Just as she turned to look at him, the fallen soldier rose to his feet and aimed his gun, quickly pulling the trigger. The shot went off , splitting the sound barrier and piercing through his entire being. He reached his wife just as she stumbled form her feet , his own legs giving out from under him as her weight crashed into his. The flightless Drakes roar landing on deaf ears as it was re-mounted, now with the wyvern egg clutched in a saddle bag, Seemingly lost , forever.

" no, no no NO Meadre? " he looked her over quickly looking for a wound, hoping to begin a healing process, he couldnt lose her, she was his everything, mother to his children , how would solomon survive with out his mother now, surely the babe would parish. the battle field around him grew dim as all he could see was her beautiful face looking up at him, her breath coming out short as she struggled to breath. " hold on, my love, i can fix this... i just need to get you inside " he offered gently , yet his tone quivered. Scooping her up bridal style, he quickly yet as carefully as he could made his way towards a bunker.

Aiden had just lane his alpha down , when Tara came limping in, her small arm wrapped around her side as she came over to them. her body trembling as big fat tears fell down her already tear stuck face. " pappa Aiden,.." she whimpered and sniffled. " they stole him , they stole my egg " she wailed. Even in her state of great pain, she sobbed her her lost Wyvern. James looked at her with sorrow and anger welling inside of him, but it was the scent of great pain that radiated off of her that had him sitting up. " bring her to me Aiden.. shes been injured" he growled, his face paling in a state of panic.. his god child was hurt , and he wasnt there to have prevented it, it only made him more uneasy , knowing she was with her mother at the time,that only spoke volumes for what might have become of Meadre. Even through his calm, Jame's hands shook uncharacteristically hard.

[Immortals]

Aiden had just lain the injured alpha out onto the pallet when he heard Tara's sniffling. Looking up, the white wolf's eyes widened as he rushed over to her, pulling the child close and ushering her over to James. "Is she badly hurt?" he asked, looking at his alpha with worry evident in his eyes. Swallowing, he watched as tara lifted her shirt to show the other wolf her side. Her little ribs were mottled with a fresh bruise, but he smelled no blood and nothing looked out of place. He relaxed somewhat as he leaned back on his haunches to listen. Around them in the bunker, several families and individuals were huddled together. Halflings and fauns, fairies... the like. Aiden felt his heart clenching in his chest as he realized their world was coming to an end. They all could die today. And this is how they'd go? Like rats in a cage?

Aiden flinched to his feet when he heard footsteps coming and he whirled around in time to see Annie darting into the bunker, holding the infant close to her chest as she panted desperately for air. "Where's Meadre! I thought she was coming to the bunker!" Annie exclaimed, holding the crying infant close as she tried to soothe his cries.

Aiden shook his head, rushing over to check both Sprite and baby for injury. "I dont know. I havent seen her come in. We thought she was with you!" He said, looking back at James as the alpha healed the girl's bruises.  Before he could speak up again, however, he heard the unmistakeable sound of Orayion's voice above them, shouting. But.. "he's not getting into the bunker.. What!" He growled, urging Annie to slip further into the bunker before he made his way topside. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Outside the barrier, he saw Orayion holding meadre close in his arms, the witch bleeding out heavily. Several human soldiers, with guns leveled at the witches, barked orders that Orayion stand down. Aiden snarled under his breath as he pushed his way up to the ground. "LEAVE THEM ALONE!" he shouted, his fists curling at his sides.

Orayion looked up at Aiden, pushing past the soldiers as he tried to make his way into the bunker. Another shot was fired, this time through Orayion's thigh, throwing him and the dying w recitch to the ground. Aiden yelped as he looked up at the soldiers, seeing the lot of them aiming straight for the three of them.

"Let us into the bunker, now... or we bomb it." One soldier barked, holding his hand up. From the throng of soldiers, stepped a small asian woman Aiden immediately recognized his Ja Imai. Ja was a well known Asian serpent to the Supe community. He felt a stab of betrayal at the sight of her standing with the humans and he swallowed, looking down to the dying Meadre. "Please.. she's dying... Let us go." he begged, standing between the soldiers and the couple.

From below, Annie listened, her heart leaping into her throat as she looked to the others. "Theyre going to blow the bunker up if we don't come out.. Meadre's dying. Oh god.." she gasped, tears running down her cheeks.

[spnfox]

" Annie , take the children ,ill go up " he grunted, gritting his teeth to ignore the pain of his slowly healing broken leg. Moving to slowly cross the room to get up and out. Orayion stood , kneeling on one knee as his other bled under his and his wife's combined weight. His eyes shedding tears as he clutched his wifes bleeding body. His hands shaking as he tried his best to pour some healing magic into her through muttered breaths, but it was proving harder and harder with his own blood leaving him. Aiden stood , gritting his teeth and clutching his fist, wanting to help them but unable to move from his spot. "please , just let us go , we are only wounded , elderly , women and children, we mean you no harm " he tried again only to have a barrel of a gun pressed to his forhead. It was at this time that James came limping out , guns raised and pointed at him quickly. The darker haired male instantly becoming defensive, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as he openly snarled at them " lower your weapons, thats not a request " he sneered, limping over to aidens side , looking over to Orayion only to bristle further and jump forward, missing a bullet aimed for him as he dropped to their side. Guns now pointed directly at him as he crawled to his friends " Mearde! " he cried, ignoring his own searing pains to try and aid their comrade " Make another move and we blow your brain out , you monster!" a soldier barked at james, only serving to have him pin the man with a bone chilling stare.. if there was one thing James had, it was pride, and he wasnt one to beg or drop himself to his knees for anyone , specially not these scum. " watch your tone with me , human " he hissed.

[Immortals]

Aiden flinched when the gun was pressed to his forehead. But hearing his Alpha's voice behind him he immediately calmed and met the gaze of the soldier before him defiantly. His defiance was short lived, however as the soldier suddenly lowered the gun and gutted him with the butt of the rifle, sending him to his knees with a gagging cough as the wolf doubled up from the impact. Almost instantly he was leapt upon by others as they cuffed the wolf and shoved a muzzle onto his head. Aiden looked up in panic as they began to read the doctrine of humanity to him, dragging him to his feet. He tried to call out to James but the muzzle held his voice fast, rifle muzzle pressed to his temple.

"Alpha, lower your weapon, or we paint ther road with your beta's brains. Got it?" one soldier asked. James looked between them before glancing at Aiden with apology in his eyes. "Fine... You can have my gun.. And me. Take me with him, But don't harm him.." James murmured, throwing his gun to the ground and placing his hands behind his head as the soldiers rushed to cuff and muzzle him as well.

While the wolf was put under arrest, two more soldiers and Ja stepped forward to the other three. Ja simply met their gaze before walking past them into the bunker. From inside they could hear the collective gasps of the other supes before Ja called up to the soldiers to entsr. They flooded the bunker much to the horror of the others. Orayion, for his honor, felt cold and numb as he held his dying wife in his arms. After a brief struggle, the bunker fell silent as one by one, the inhabitants were marched out at gunpoint.

"You are now enemies and prisoners of the Human army. Continue to stand down and we will let you live out your miserable existences. Resist, And we will shoot" Ja barked, her voice void of emotion as she fought the urge to look at any of the supes. Orayion looked on in dismay as Annie and Tara were marched out. When Tara screAmed for her mother, Orayion held a bloody hand up to her. "My little rose! Don't... StY with Annie..." he choked out, looking down at his wife. How fortunate should the timing be. As the supes were marched out and his attention diverted to his wife, he saw Meadre attempt to SpeAk, But a fit of coughing sent blood welling fro, her lips as she placed a shakey hand on his cheek. She couldn't SpeAk, but her eyes did the talking for her. Orayion saw the fear, the pain... The anger in her eyes. He silently promised her he would watch out for their children, love her forever... And like that, the light left her, his wife slumping in his arms.

The street fell silent as he held her corpse in his arms, his cheeks streaked with tears as He broke. "My love... Be at peace.. " he wept, holding her close.

[spnfox]

James was held and bound tightly , watching in silence as his world was ripped from him in its final moment of war. He turned his muzzled head as he looked away from Orayion and Meadre's now deceased body. Closing his eyes , he allowed the soldiers to push him along as he prodded aiden behind him. ~ im sorry , old friend... I couldnt help her ~ he linked towards Orayion. The soldiers paid no mind to His broken leg, as he all but hopped along. Aiden coming up to his side and leaning against his off balanced side, hoping to help his Alpha move along with out losing his balance. Things would never be the same from here on out.

~**~

10 years had passed, New laws coming to light , as the supes where all but living in poverty and under the cruel rule of humans. Once a year , the gates would open , and a muzzled James and Aiden where released with tracking collars around their throats to keep them not only from shifting , but keeping their location at all times. They would be given a month of time outside of the governments gates to visit their god children and Orayion. It was a miracle for that after the war and death of their mother, Solomon had survived and was thriving, albeit weakly, but thriving. Shaking his head , James rubbed his jaw, having the muzzle removed from his face as he rubbed at the facial hair that covered his cheeks and jaw. " I hate that contraption " he huffed as he rolled his jaw as he stretched and watched as aiden removed his and placed it next to his own at the gates wall ".. come on... im sure Orayion is awaiting our arrival . " he nudge his beta at his side , rubbing at his shoulder where he had last defended aiden against a beating . He would heal quickly, but that didnt mean he wouldnt feel pain when it was inflicted . His leg long since healed , yet still held a very faint limp to it due to its prolonged attempts at self healing during the poor conditions after the war.

[Immortals]

One long decade since the end of the war, and life was no better than it had been before the final raid. The Raid had become infamous in Supe culture, spanning the globe. It seemed that humans across the lands had somehow managed to correspond with one another to bring hellfire down on the supes for daring to defy them in any way at all. Since the end of the war, the humans had "mercifully" offered an option to their prisoners. Either take the delivered punishments and be processed for tracking but continue to live out their miserable existences, or die. Many creatures had decided neither option was in their favor and instantly fled from the cities to the Wilds. Reports came back daily on the corpses found of the fled captives, but no one dared to feel remorse.

Well... At least the humans didn't.

So it was with great regret that many chose to allow their captors to process them. Processing was a long and drawn out process that took months to complete. The Supes were divided into categories: those that remained in their humanoid shapes, those that could willingly shift, and those that could not pass for human at all. The centaurs and fairies were all taken into full captivity, locked away and kept on display for generations of humans to come and gawk at at their pleasure and the creatures humiliations. Aiden and James-as prime offenders to the human culture- were kept under lock and key eleven months out of the year, allowed visiting hours when their family could come to see them, but no more.

Creatures that could willingly change their shape were processed separately. All Supes that could shape their image differently were given collars inset with tracking devices, and a magnetic cell that when pressed to the base of the neck column's vertebrae, prevented the electrical signals of the brain from spreading to the rest of the body thusly halting all abilities to shift forms. The only way to remove these collars was by a carefully imprinted code that only a few humans could input, rendering these creatures completely unfit to change their bodies.

Finally, the supes that retained a human appearance at all times were given a much smaller tracking device. A small chip was implanted beneath the left ear of each person. The chip was specially designed not only to keep an eye on where each Supe traveled in the city, it was made to glow a bright blue when it came in close proximity to human DNA. Just being in the same room with a human would trigger this reaction, thusly preventing any humanoid Supe from slipping into the higher class neighborhoods of humans to blend in.

In all, no one came out of this unscathed. While Human were given wealthier class amenities, Supes were relegated to ration cards and group housing. Education had been limited to what the Supes could put together in abandoned buildings, and magic was completely banned in all cities, punishable by torture and public humiliation. For instance, if a witch were caught using magic, she would be publicly beaten and sheared of her hair. As hair was a prominent sign of a witch's power, without it they were reduced to nothing.

Ten years of this. Ten years of living in harsh conditions with no central plumbing or heat, very little medical care and the remains of what human food production felt unfit to serve to their own kind.. and conditions were only getting worse from there.

Outside the prison, a tiny boy stood barefoot in the dirt and stones of the unkempt ground. He was a skinny little boy, too short for his age, with a rattling breath and pale skin. Dark ringlets of jet black hair hung in his face as his frail hands clutched a bag to his chest. It contained medical supplies consisting of three inhalers for asthma, an epi-pen to prevent the allergic shock that was a constant threat hovering over his head, and various glucose and iron tablets for his too-thin blood and sickly metabolism. Yes, Solomon had survived the war, but in the grueling conditions with which they lived, the boy never really aged well enough. It took everything in his father's meager pension to pay for his monthly medical bills and supplies that kept the boy going.

Solomon looked up to see the gates opening, as he and several other eager family members and friends waited for their own to come out. "UNCLE JIMMY! UNCLE AIDEN!" he called, choking on a cough as the shouts had been too much for his lungs to handle. He doubled over, placing his grubby hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. If he could save his medicine for when he really needed it, he would.

[Immortals]

The moment the gates had been opened to release its prisoners for their monthly reprieve, Aiden and James stepped from their confines with eager movements, soaking up the rays of sun as they walked. At their side, Ryfan trotted, his gait hindered by a mild limp. The war a decade earlier had cost him the grace of his stride and marred his left flank with an ugly scar that matted the flesh and bared it of fur across its raised surface. Despite his disability, Ryfan stood proud and straight, his tail flicking earnestly behind him as his hooves clipped along the dirt. "James and Aiden, your spirits are looking bright this day." The centaur chuckled, glancing down at his friends as he clapped a large hand to Aiden's shoulder.

The white wolf nodded, glancing up at his companion as he responded. "It isn't often we get such pleasures. I'd take a hundred days of seeing the Coghlans over anything else. Though, I wouldn't complain if the guards tossed a few more bones in our direction, yes?"

James, focused entirely on departing, only looked up when he caught his Beta's voice calling to him. His response, though a simple grunt, betrayed his humor as a faint smile twitched in the corner of his mouth. "Aye, indeed. Let us be on our way before they change their mind on letting us go. Keep up if you can old man!" he added, casting a glance up to the centaur.

"Is that so? Old man!" Ryfan huffed, stomping his hoof on the ground in consternation before clapping the Alpha on the back and trotting up ahead of them to the gates. The moment the three of them stepped beyond their borders,  a collective breath was taken between the three of them. It wasn't often they were allowed the pleasure of seeing beyond their prison, and despite the muggy day, the air felt much cleaner.

Aiden, beaming like the sun's rays that peeked through the clouds, glanced over the waiting family members to see if he could spot Orayion or Tara. He was disappointed not to see the red hair the young girl had inherited from her mother, but his keen nose caught the scent of the family close by. "Oh no.. Solomon is here to fetch us." he murmured, glancing back at his companions. No sooner had he looked away, did the feeble voice carry over the crowd, followed quickly by the hacking cough. Blood running cold in his veins, Aiden turned to the crowd and caught sight of the boy doubled up, thin hands clasped over knobby knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"SOLOMON!" James called, both wolves shoving their way through the crowd to get to their nephew. James dropped to his knees next to the wheezing boy and held him close, pressing his hand to his chest. "Solomon, listen to me. Where is your medicine? You have to take it."

"N-No I can't! Da won't get pension pay for another week! I have to save it!" Solomon murmured, his cheeks splotchy red from his coughing fit. But the longer he held out, the more labored his breathing became, and James narrowed his eyes.

(draft)