A Creature of War, Epilog

The old lynx leaned back in the plush seat and let his breath out as he watched the children and some parents move away.

This felt different. Well, it had been the end of the story, so that would be different, but he couldn’t shake the sense there had been more to it.

A human woman, and her boy of nine or ten, approached him. She was smiling, while he partially hid behind her. “Excuse me, but is there somewhere I can get the story? Is it a book? Or maybe you've recorded it?”

He smiled at her. When he spoke, his voice was strong, making him sound younger. “I’m afraid not. This was the first time I told this story.”

“Oh, if I may, you should record it, at least. It was very good.”

He leaned forward, feeling his old bones creak, but fortunately not feeling any of the pain. She leaned in, in response, and he whispered, “It was good, because it was true.”

She straightened, laughing lightly. The young boy looked at him, mouth parted in amazement, and he winked at him.

“The way you told it, it certainly sounded like it could have been true. You made the dark times sound so real. It’s as if you’d been there.”

He looked at his claws and made the motion bashful. “Well, I am old.”

She smiled. “Well, I do hope you’ll record it. I would have loved to hear how it began. I only managed to be here for the last few months.”

“I’ll consider it,” he said to please her, knowing he wouldn’t. It wasn’t like this had been planned. All he’d done was sit down after returning the book he’d borrowed, all those months ago, to wait to be picked up, and children had come to see him, asking how old he was, what he’d seen, had he met any of the city’s heroes. He hadn’t been bothered. He liked children. There was so much potential in them. Whole lifetimes’ worth of potential.

On a whim he’d he’d told them to sit, and he told them a story. He hadn’t been able to finish it, so he’d come back the next week to finish it. A few weeks after that, returning another book, one of the children had recognized him and asked for another story. He had to wait again, so he had agreed, and it had become a ritual. Eventually, even some of the parents sat and listen to him.

But he wouldn’t retell these stories.

As she escorted her boy away, he noticed the bull leaning against the seat opposite him. “Ready to go. Old man?”

He picked up the cane resting against the armrest and pointed it at the bull. “Say that again youngun, and you’re going to feel the business end of my cane.” He made his voice shaking and old sounding.

The bull laughed, and he smiled. He loved that laugh.

“Now come and help me get up. This chair doesn’t want to let go.”

The bull stepped around the seat and offered him his hand. He’d forgo the usual black he wore while working for blue jeans and a white t-shirt that was tight enough to show the muscles underneath and which made the lynx’s heart beat a little faster each time. Over that, he had a jacket against the cooling weather. He didn’t have the fur the lynx enjoyed as protection.

Instead of pulling himself up, he pulled the bull closer, and kissed him. The bull responded and when they broke up, both were smiling. He caught some of the looks they were getting, the dismay at the octogenarian kissing the thirty-year-old in such a way. The reproachful look the bull got as he helped the lynx stand. Did they think he was taking advantage of this old man?

He didn’t care what they thought. He loved him. Had loved him for so long and through so much.

“So,” the bull said, still holding his arm and matching his walking speed. “Same time next week? What story are you going to tell?”

He paused, and the bull stopped, looking at him.

He looked back at the seat and he understood what had been different. He shook his head. “No, I’m done.” He started walking toward the exit again.

“Okay, I guess you’d have to make up the next story if you came back. What are you going to do instead? You talked about learning to paint a few years ago.”

The lynx looked up at the bull. “No, Vee, I’m done.”

The bull was silent after that as he helped him to the gray-green car by the curb. Like him, it was old, although nowhere near as old. He’d gotten it in his late forties and had had a friend maintain it. He was pretty sure that friend had made some upgrade to it the last time it had gone in for service. He hadn’t had to plug it in once since then. Six years on one charge wasn’t normal.

Vee gently merged into traffic.

“How was work?” he asked, so they’d have something other to talk about than his revelation.

The bull snorted. “I’m getting to the point I where I wish I was doing this alone again. I spend most of my time dealing with people these days. Just today, before I got here, I had to deal with a dozen of them who wanted to move on.”

“Is that going to cause problems?”

Vee shook his head. “The nice thing about having all these people is that shifting the load while the new ones get trained isn’t going to make much of a ripple. And finding replacement’s easy. There’s always someone eager to do this job instead of the alternative.”

He nodded and looked out the window. He felt the Bull’s eyes on him.

“Are you sure about this?”

He nodded.

“You know, you outlasted the rest of us again. Eek and Bear were in their seventies when they finally decided to move on. Of course, I’d been keeping them in their fifties for twenty years, they didn’t have to deal with all the trouble old age brings. Unlike you.”

He chuckled. “Stubborn, that’s me.”

“I did offer.”

“It would have defeated the point. Old age isn’t supposed to be about being as spry as a kid.”

“Fifty isn’t being a kid.”

“Are you kidding me? Have you seen them run around the malls, chasing men and women half their age? I swear, we don’t get any common sense until we hit sixty-five.” He paused. “I am happy I took you up on your offer to take away the aches and pains. I wouldn’t have been able to deal with that.”

They were silent for a time.

“You know, the boss man is certain you did this to piss him off. Leave him with this giant hole in his security net he needs to take care of himself. You know how much he loves just visiting places instead of managing things.”

“Considering what he did, can you blame me?”

“I wouldn’t, if that was why you did it. But it isn’t.”

He looked at the bull. “Did you get Peek’s power at some point and didn’t tell me?”

Vee laughed. “This isn’t mind reading. It’s just having known you for a very long time.”

“Alright, enlighten me. Why did I do it?”

The bull motioned around. “Them. You wanted to be one of them for as long as you could. You wanted to be old. Not in the ‘I can’t age and I’m thousand years old sense’, but in the sense of growing old. You got the chance to be a child, to become a young man, then an adult, and then an old man. You weren’t going to pass that up.” He grew silent, thoughtful.

“You could have too.”

The bull shook his head. “No, things weren’t—”

“Oh, don’t tell me you buy that crap. Peek and Static died before they had kids and they’re back. He was just vindictive.”

The bull took a breath. “No. That isn’t why he did it.” He looked at his hand. “I had to take all those people. I had to be reminded that death came to them at a cost. I’d forgotten that.”

“He didn’t have to do that to you.”

“I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. I wouldn’t have been reminded how precious life is without being forced to see to the dead. I wouldn’t have remembered how precious you were.”

The lynx looked away, his eyes getting wet.

The bull took a breath. “This is going to change things. You know that, right?”

He laughed. “Like we aren’t used to change by now. First we were strangers, then friends, lovers—”

“Enemies.”

“We tried to kill each other a few times.”

“Finally succeeded.”

He nodded and took the bull hand in his. “And now we’re together again, forever.”

“I don’t know. If you insist on forcing me to drive one-handed, I might have to start hating you again.”

He kissed Vee’s hand and released it.

The car slowed and turned onto a side road. He tried to see what had caused him to turn, but nothing had happened, yet. Vee wasn’t precognitive, not like Suff was. He didn’t see the future, he’d told him the first time, what he did know was where every one of his people was, and since they had to show up ahead of time, if he felt one further down the road, it meant something bad was going to happen.

“What is it going to be like?”

“Hmm? Oh, much like before all this. I don’t mean the war and taking orders. But protecting them. It’s something of a full-time job, but we’re… better at handling it now. You’ll see.”

He nodded, then smiled to himself as the car slowed to a crawl. Of course, knowing where accidents were going to happen didn’t help when what was slowing the traffic was just a slow truck.

“We didn’t have to drive back. You know. I could have just taken you there.” Vee drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in annoyance. Being someone who could go wherever he wanted just by thinking about it, meant he had no patience for bad traffic.

Vee had only started driving when he’d gotten too weak for it. The bull had taken courses, although he’d never bothered getting his license. If there was one thing certain when he drove was that neither of them would get hurt in an accident.

“I know, but I didn’t want to just leave my car at the library. People would wonder what had happened. This way, it will be where it should be.”

Soon after, the traffic picked up, and they were driving in the underground parking of his apartment building. With the car in its spot, and turned off, he got out.

Maybe it was because he’d made the decision, but he felt weaker than usual. A hand took his arm as it trembled, holding the cane.

“Here, let me.” Vee picked him up. “We don’t have to bother with walking now.” And deposited him on his bed.

He breathed in the familiar smells of his apartment and relaxed. He stretched on the bed, resting his hands on his stomach. “I like this place. I have a lot of good memories here. Are you staying?”

Vee smiled. “Of course I’m staying. You think I’d delegate this? Just close your eyes.” He leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

*

Vee watched him in silence for a moment.

“You know,” someone behind him said. “I really thought this would feel different.”

Vee turned and smiled. He’d never stopped loving him, even as he aged and lost a lot of the vigor he’d had when young, or before Vee had become too full of himself and of his need for violence. But there was something about seeing the lynx young that brought him back to all those millennia ago when they were both actually young.

He was looking at his arm. “Wow, I’d forgotten how shiny my fur was.” He wore jeans, something modern, as well as a modern button down short sleeve shirt, but the sleeveless vest over it looked old. Tanned hide with wooden buttons. Something from the dark times, maybe? He had spent more time there than any other times.

He looked up and their eyes met. They were bright again, full of life. He smiled shyly and his ears turned pink. He’d missed those shows of emotions.

Vee took a step forward and placed a hand on the lynx’s cheek. “Hi,” he said, his voice catching slightly. This was stupid; he’d spoken to him just now. This wasn’t someone different, he just looked younger.

“Hi, Vee.” The same shyness in his voice as in his eyes.

“I’m not sure what to call you now. Should I still call you—”

The lynx placed a finger on his lips. “That was his name. Let it die with him.”

Vee smiled. “Alright, so what should I call you? I am not calling you the all mighty Lord Tiranis, so you know.”

“Why not?” his tone was offended, but he was smiling. “That’s what everyone called me, and now that’s actually who I am.”

“You have an entire church calling you that. I think that’s enough for your ego. And I don’t want to spend my time with Him, I want to spend my time with you. I want something I can call you that’s for us. Like you call me Vee.”

The lynx nodded. “Well, I was always El to you, wasn’t I?”

Vee nodded. “Hi El.”

El grabbed the bull by the collar and pulled him close, locking lips with him. Vee startled for an instant, then wrapped his arms around the lynx. Before he could tighten his arms El coughed and pushed away.

“Is everything alright?”

The lynx’s ears were bright red. “Yes,” he hesitated. “It’s just I’d forgotten how I sometime react to kissing you.” He looked down, between them.

Vee followed his gaze and laughed. “I did offer to keep that working.”

“Old men don’t have working junk.”

“They could have, if they knew me.”

El grinned. “Well, I wanted the real experience, failing body and all. And as an old man, all I needed was for you to hold me.”

“And I respected that. Now that it’s working again, what do you need?”

He pulled Vee close again and his voice was full of promises. “I want a bed to push you on right now, or we’re doing it against the wall and disturbing everyone in the building.”

Vee leaned in to kiss him and the room was empty and silent.

*

Later, a knock came from elsewhere in the apartment. “Mister Koreria?” a young woman called. “The door was ajar. Is everything okay? Mister Koreria, are you there?” Steps came closer. The door to the bedroom opened and a human woman, in her late twenties, peeked in. She noticed the bed was occupied and lowered her voice. “Mister Koreria, it’s Karina. Do you need any help?”

She noticed he was dressed and cautiously stepped into the room. “Mister Koreria?” She said a little louder. He placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him. When he didn’t wake, she shook him harder. When he still didn’t wake, her hand went to her mouth.

Shaking, she placed a hand against his neck, searching for a moment, then pulling away quickly. She whispered a quick prayer as she pulled out her phone and dialed emergency serviced.

“Hello?” she said when the persona answered. “I’m in apartment 1453, at 328 Integral boulevard. Yes, in Tiranis. Mister Koreria is dead.” She rubbed at her eyes and her hand came away wet. She sniffled. “No, it was peaceful.” She leaned against the wall. “He was in his eighties. He was such a nice old man.” She wrapped her free arm around herself. “I’m sorry, my name Karina. I’m his. I was his neighbor. His door was ajar, so I came in to check if he was okay and found him lying on the bed.”

She sniffled again and looked through her pockets. “No, I don’t believe so. I remember him mentioning his parents had passed, and he didn’t have any siblings. He spoke about friends, but they’re all past too. Although…” She thought she’d felt something against her ear and looked in that direction. Like the air when someone spoke, but there was no one, of course. It was her imagination, the situation.

“I’m sorry? I don’t think so. I mean, there was this man who came by every so often, a bull. They looked very friendly, if you know what I mean. His name was… I’m sorry, I know he told me, but I can’t remember it. He was in his thirties, mid or late, I’m not sure, he had… I’m sorry I can’t remember what he looked like for some reason.”

She looked at the old lynx on the bed and found that the sadness of his passing didn’t hit her as hard as it had a moment ago. He was dead, yes, but he’d lived a full, long life. She didn’t have any reason to be sad.

“Yes, yes. I’ll stay here until they get here. No, thank you, that’s very nice of you, but I’m feeling better now. I should let you go so you can help people who are having actual emergencies. Thanks, you too.” She ended the call and put her phone away.

She knelt next to the bed. “You never told me if you believed in any of them, so I’m just going to say that I hope the Black Bull takes you to a good place, and that the Lord Tiranis keep you safe.” She pulled the lightning that hung around her neck and kissed it, then placed it back.

She stood and left him alone, feeling confident that she’d done what he would have liked. She closed the door and went to the entrance to wait for the paramedic, feeling unusually at peace with herself. Things were how they should be, a voice told her at the back of her mind. Things were finally as they should be.