Page 129 of Simon

Simon

My heart pounded in my chest, its rhythm echoing like the wings of a frantic pixie. The brilliant light sources, high above, bathed the landscape in a torrent of pink and golden beams, and seared my back with its warmth.

Beside me, my mate stood, our hands entwined, her touch like a gentle breeze that caressed my skin. As we ventured towards the heart of the freshly blossomed meadow, the scent of bloomedflowers enveloped us and mingled with the earthy aroma of dewy grass.

Fauns needed space to run, to prance and play. We had high energy, and while I enjoyed expelling my energy by rutting, when we’d had our kids, we quickly realized we needed them to burn off their own never-ending energy.

Three of our kids pranced in front of us. The eldest, Lark, was as tall as me at fifteen years old. His horns weren’t as big as mine; he still had a long way to go to mature into adulthood. He still watched over his siblings, and he was the typical oldest child, as my mate would say. Strong, capable, and most of all, a leader.

Lark’s favorite thing to do was whittle with knives and blocks of wood. When he was young, he created his first instrument, a single flute, and brought music to our home. He took books off the shelves of our thatchet and created multiple kinds, such as double triple and even a pan flute.

After our evening meals, he would play, but now that he was older, he preferred to help me ready the thatches for our new residences. In the evenings, he taught his younger brother, Canyon, the ways of music.

Canyon has added to the music, not just an interest in flutes but drums and a fiddle that Lucy gained from one of her fathers’ frequent visits.

Our middle child, Clove, had the longest hair, that she wouldn’t let anyone cut. It was as bright as Lucy’s, always double-braided, so it wouldn’t drag on the ground while she ran through the tall grasses of the meadow.

She looked so much like her mother; I knew I would have to protect her from any male that thought they were worthy of her.

I watched my family fondly while we took our time to reach the middle of the field to meet Sable.

Today was the day we had been waiting for.

Lucy squeezed my arm as her head leaned on my shoulder. “Everything is going to be amazing.”

I swallowed heavily, but my chest felt like a boulder was sitting on it.

The orcs were at the tree line on the other side as a welcoming party. I told them they had to stay back until the initial welcoming to the Wood had happened. I didn’t need the herd to scatter before we could officially welcome them and let them know they were safe.

The kings and queens of Bergarian stayed away. Thank the gods, because I didn’t think I could handle the formalities, and I didn’t think the other fauns could either.

“Simon.” Lucy rubbed her hand up and down my arm. “Simon, you’re trembling.”

She pulled me to a stop just a few feet away from Sable, who was patiently waiting at the meadow’s center. Our kids were keeping her company while panic overtook my body.

I had everything planned, down to the last thatchet. I knew of every family that would arrive. I knew their names, their faces, their likes and their dislikes. I knew how many fauns to each home, how many kids they bore in their absence from the Earth Realm while they stayed with Poseidon—which wasn’t many.

They would know little of the home they had left. They would know that a god had saved them from a time when their species was in danger, but nothing more than that. My family, my mother and father, who had no more kids after me, had no knowledge I was missing to save their suffering, but once their hooves met the soil, they would remember.

They would know I had been gone for many years and that I had grown to be what I am today.

Emotions would swirl among my parents, they would feel many, and I would need to hold them together. I would because I was their son. I held no resentment toward them in any way.

In all of this, I was able to grow and be who I was supposed to be: the leader of the herd.

Would they see me as such a figure? Would they believe I could take care of them? Lead them in the dangers that were here? What of Bergarian; would they truly accept them? The orcs were still faced with wary glances.

I felt a warm hand on my chest, my rapid breathing slowed, and I looked down at my teary-eyed mate.

The female who had kept me calm all these years, the mate who had kept me grounded and told me I could do anything, wrapped her arms around me.

“You’ve done so well, my little faun.” My body slumped and nuzzled into her shoulder. She smiled and pressed a kiss to my neck. “Poseidon and Sable wouldn’t have brought your kind here if they didn’t think we were ready.”

“Our kind,” I muttered, running my hand over her horns.

While she didn’t have the hooves, she still walked barefoot, some days, I wondered if her feet were swifter than my hooves. She could even run faster than our energetic children.

Lucy pulled on my hand, leading me to the center. Sable perked up her head while all the kids were playing a fast round of Ring around the Rosie. A game that Lucy had taught them.

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