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Love Eternal |
Trenton and Katarina Asu |
"Wolves and Dragons mate for life..."
"...and for eternity."
((Picture by Tajhrtskr))
Trenton, Katarina, and Shayne
One day, several years ago, in the tavern of the Red Dragon Inn, a man saved the life of a young woman. From that day forth, their hearts were bound together by the deepest love two people had ever known. Some say that their destiny was written in the stars, that their love was fated.
Katarina walked into the Inn where she had rented a room upon her arrival in RhyDin. The tavern was crowded, and at first she did not see the alien hunter following her. He had been stalking her for days, attracted to her by her bright green eyes. According to him, his own eyes were going bad, and he needed a replacement pair. Unnoticed by Katarina, a man at one of the tables was watching and listening. Katarina hurried up to her room and locked the door.
A few days later when Katarina walked into the Inn, the alien was again following her. She rushed across the tavern to reach the safety of her room, but the man who had watched her the previous day stopped her. Katarina was struck by his deep blue eyes and his irresistable smile. With one hand, the handsome stranger pulled Katarina behind him. His other hand held out a jar to the stalker. Inside the jar were two synthetic eyeballs that he had created in his labs. The alien held the glass container close to his own failing eyes, and then he sniffed at it. Satisfied, he left the inn, and Katarina had never seen him again.
And so began the love that would last for eternity. Over the following weeks, Trenton and Katarina spent every moment they could in each other's company. Every moment, that was, that they could sneak away from their families. Trenton's family was in a war, and Katarina soon found out that Anaheim, the mentor to whom she had pledged her life and loyalty, was on the other side of that same war. For months, family and politics tried, and nearly succeeded, to keep the lovers apart. After enduring several punishments, and having only bruises to show for her love, Katarina finally gave in to the demands of her family and mentor and agreed not to see Trenton again. Trenton, however, was not so easily deterred. As hard as Katarina tried to avoid the Blue Dragon, he fought twice as hard to keep their love alive.
He followed her to every remote inn and tavern she visited, and he simply would not take "no" for an answer. One night, after telling him for the hundreth time to stay away from her, he simply smiled that charming smile of his and laid a single, pale pink rose on the table. As Trenton walked out of the tavern, the rose began to sing to her. It was a silly, childish song about how small the world was, but it brought a tear to Katarina's eyes. That rose was the first of hundreds she would receive from him. They were all the same--a single, pale pink rose enchanted to sing that silly song. Whenever they argued, on special occasions, or for no reason at all, he would present her with the small token as a reminder of their love, and it never failed to bring a smile to her face.
After the night of the first rose, Katarina was determined to resume her courtship. Her heart would accept no less. Anaheim soon discovered the lovers, however, and ordered Katarina to kill Trenton. With Anaheim at her back, she attacked the Blue Dragon. Her heart was not into the task, and her blows were easily blocked. Anaheim stepped in and took Trenton as his prisoner. After keeping him locked up for over a week, Anaheim confided in Katarina that his life was near its end. Finally, after months of secret rendevous and separation, Anaheim gave his consent for the two to be married. He released Trenton the next morning.
The couple was married shortly thereafter, and as they promised to love each other for eternity, in this life and beyond, they exchanged rings of twisted golden vines, spotted with pale ruby roses. Both families turned out for the wedding ceremony. A month later, Katarina discovered that she was with child. Trenton's face lit up with joy when she told him the news. After a difficult pregnancy, and an equally difficult birth, they named their son Shayne Roel Asu. Trenton also adopted several children, and Katarina often joked about being related to everyone in the land, but she loved her husband and knew that his children brought him great happiness.
Several years after they were wed, Katarina returned to her homeland for a visit. While she was there, she caught a rare illness that, after a two week struggle, took her life. It was customary for the people of that land to offer the dead to the Demon Lord of the Mud Pit, Mugarle, in hopes that he would return life to the deceased. Mugarle had no such plans for Katarina. He chose to keep her as she was, in death. Trenton made a deal with the Demon, and exchanged a year of his life in servitude for Katarina's life.
Katarina returned to the lands near RhyDin, alive, but furious about the bargain her husband had made with Mugarle. Trenton, however, insisted that his honor must be upheld, and, after a two week visit with his recently returned wife, he left to complete his part of the deal.
Over the next few months, Trenton escaped from Mugarle on several occasions for a day or two at a time to visit his family. He was confident that his absence was not noticed by Mugarle. On the morning after their last child was conceived, Katarina awoke next to a pile of starstuff, the residue left behind when one of his kind is taken from this world to the next, and knew that Mugarle had found him and had taken his life as punishment.
For months after, Katarina stared at the stars every night. She could hear them singing in their sweet, melodious voices. And on some nights, when the wind was very still and the air was very clear, she could distinguish one voice from the many. The tune that one voice sang was a silly, childish song about how small the world was. One night, a vision made of starstuff appeared in her room to wake her from her restless slumber. The starstuff formed into the shape of the man her heart ached for, and all too soon, after only a few words spoken, it was gone again. After that night, Katarina no longer heard the singing of the stars, but her heart still ached.
It is said, that to this day, the widow stands on her balcony every night, staring up at the stars and straining her ears to hear their music. Some even say that the brightest star in the sky often winks down at her in a very familiar, happy, carefree manner.
This page is dedicated to the memory of Dan Altman.
