I, Corinthius (The Vasterium Saga) Read online

  I, Corinthius

  The Vasterium Saga

  by

  Shae Christi

  Copyright © 2015 Shae Christi

  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in retrieval systems, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recorded or otherwise without written permission from the author.

  Cover Design by Author using public domain stag silhouette and outline. Vector swirls (http://www.webdesignhot.com/) used under the creative commons attribution license. Pixlr software was used to create finished cover/inside image.

  Published digitally by OAK CROWN publishing in 2015.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  About The Author

  Chapter 1

  Many moons ago on the eastern sides of the far reaching Vasterium forest a section of fir trees exploded in to a raging inferno of fire which swallowed up and devoured everything in its path. A forest so thick and lush and teeming with life was now turning in to smouldering compacted skeletons of ash and cinder and all the wildlife scattered desperately for the remaining safe Vasterium woodlands.

  From the once sleepy dell the towering trees blistered under their coats of fire and birds of all species and all colours circumnavigated the air for sanctuary. A number of them flew too close to the pulsing heat and burst in to burning embers that rained down on to the forest floor. Amongst the terrified throng of wildlife ran a stag who barrelled through a thicket, his lungs fit to burst. He ran and ran until he could no longer feel the threat of the heat at his hooves and he continued until he came to a stream of cool diamond waters and saw to quench his thirst with the rest of the animals that had survived the fire and the stampede. After drinking his fill he wandered up to the top of the hill and stood watching with feelings of desolation at the distant landscape before him. He could see the thick, acrid smoke belching up and dispersing on the wind to the North. Then he collapsed to his haunches and cried. Where was his family? Why hadn't they stayed with him as he ran terrified for his soul? He began to sob because he couldn't understand how he was unable to remember their faces or their names. His absolute terror had blurred out their existence. He couldn't even recall any of his friends' names or faces. He only knew his name and it was Corinthius.

  After staying on the hilltop for a long while and watching the fire and smoke fade out on the wind he made the decision not to venture back in to the eastern forest. He was too terrified to do so. What if the trees caught fire again? To perish by fire must be an awful way to go and he shuddered at the thought. He turned his hooves to the dying scene behind him and walked under the descending dusk searching for shelter, food, water, and hopefully company. For Corinthius felt an overpowering sense of loneliness and isolation. He tried to blot out the grisly thoughts that his family and friends, if he had any, were consumed in the greedy fires on the eastern side and he told himself to keep on walking.

  He walked for an hour and the sun began to dip low on the horizon throwing up shades of copper and rusted red light behind the trees and on to the grassy floor. He became more aware of the spiders trembling in their webs. Of the dark winged birds roosting in the ancient trees. And he watched the hares scurrying away and heading for their warrens. Their homes. To their safety. But, nowhere could he find a home of his own or his own tribe. He felt like the only stag left behind in the whole of the Vasterium landscape.

  He gently loped over the meadows which were adorned with a carpet of wild, beautiful flowers. The sky began to gradually get grainer and darker. After sniffing out some fresh grass shoots, acorns and flowering weeds to eat he wandered upon a female doe in the dying light of a glade. He stood stock still not quite knowing what to do. What should he say? He didn't want to startle her. He only wanted a kind soul to help him and speak to. He slowly went towards her and then stopped in the shade of a giant fir tree and watched her for a while before she cantered off back in to the shadow of the forest beyond. Corinthius followed her and did his best not to be seen or heard. He hoped she belonged to a herd that would be friendly and welcome him. Indeed she did meet her herd and they were calmly walking beside a thick copse of rowan trees. Corinthius struck up as much courage as he could and stepped out of the shadows.

  "Hello there. Could you help me, please? My name is Corinthius," he said nervously. Even though he approached gently he still startled the does.

  "Who are you? What do you want? We've never seen you around these grounds before," snapped Geru, the doe with the long scar that wound itself over the bridge of her nose. "Why do you come here?"

  Corinthius looked at them terrified and gave off the air of a stag with a broken spirit.

  "I don't know. I've lost my family. I don't know where to go or what to do. I came from where the fire ate the trees."

  "Well, what do you suppose we can do about it? We don't care about your business. It's nothing to do with us," spat Zelna, the doe with a chocolate patch that covered her right eye.

  The young doe he had followed out of the forest stood to the right of Geru and appeared to be studying him with her large eyes. Two young bucks, Burwin and Bremo, pressed in close to their mother, Zelna, before finding their youthful courage to spring towards Corinthius curiously. Zelna quickly butted them back in to their place with her nose and she gave them a disapproving look that made them bow their heads.

  "Stay away from him. Both of you! He could kill you if you get too big for your hooves," she hissed impatiently.

  Corinthius shook his head.

  "No, no. I wouldn't do such a thing. I promise you."

  Zelna eyed him suspiciously.

  "Males, once old enough, do not roam with the females after growing up, Corinthius. Go away," she said coldly.

  Corinthius felt sick. Where was he to go? The night was descending in fast. Why were they being so cruel? He didn't want to be alone.

  "Hush, Zelna. Don't be so awful to him," said Mia, the gentle eyed doe stepping forward to get a closer look at the young stag.

  "He's lost his way and he's frightened. All the animals in the forest that came in from the east are. Can't you feel it? I'm sure we can take care of him until he finds his way."

  "Absolutely not!," squealed Geru, the disgust written over her face with comical sourness.

  "Come now, Geru," smiled Mia. "We can all see and sense he is no danger to us. He looks terrified. He's had a horrid experience. Show some kindness for once."

  Mia looked over at Zelna and her two young bucks who were still hiding behind her haunch but watching and listening to the conversation with curious eyes and ears.

  "What if the same were to happen to your little boys, Zelna? Wouldn't you want someone to show them some compassion?"

  Zelna eyed Corinthius haughtily.

  "Well, as long as he keeps his distance," she said in a castigating tone. Mia turned to Corithius and smiled.

  "Do you think you can keep a little distance, Corinthius? From those two?"

  Corinthius nodded agreeably and a wonderful wave of relief permeated his entire body. He then bowed to all of them to show his gratitude. Zelna, Geru, and Mia to an extent, thought he had to be the strangest stag they had ever seen in their life.

  Chapter 2

  After a few days of roaming through the thick forests they came to a meadow and grazed for a few days on the delicious wild flowers. The female does began to lessen their suspicion towards Corinthius as he proved to be a good play friend for Bu
rwin and Bremo, who really liked him. Zelna and Geru's irritation towards him waned as he kept to his promise of keeping his distance from them. He did his best not to give them a reason to make him feel unwelcome, or worse, have him removed from the herd entirely. The two older does also tolerated Corinthius and Mia keeping company together but expressed concern towards Mia that should the King of the stags, Elkuri, find out, she would be in serious bother. She told them not to worry about her. She was only looking out for Corinthius the way a mother would for a bewildered child.

  Mia and Corinthius grew close and he felt settled and secure having someone around that was warm and friendly company. She didn't judge him the way her two older sisters did who deemed him to have very peculiar mannerisms for a stag. Still, with the mood relaxed Corinthius began to feel more at home with a family, pretend as it was, around him.

  He played tag with Burwin and Bremo who chased him from one end of the meadow to the other and he helped wear out their little legs. Helping to expend their youthful energy the way he did meant they were less bother around their mother, Zelna, who seemed to want to just doze in the morning sun or a shade of a tree and didn't care for her boys play fighting all the time. They also slept more soundly than ever.

  After an energetic play of tag, Corinthius and the two little bucks caught their breath and relaxed and sipped from a thin stream that cupped the outer edges of the meadow. As the boys began to play fight close to the water's edge Corinthius gazed up at the giant fir trees that fenced the meadow in from the view of the main road that twisted its way through the enormous Vasterium forest. He sat back and listened to the air alive with the sounds of bird chatter and song. Then he heard a peculiar noise in the pale blue sky. It was alight with a small screech and chattering of a lone bird. The bird was hovering like a kite in a gentle wind and was watching something in the grass to Corinthius' far right. Burwin and Bremo cantered over to see what was so interesting to have caught the stag's eye.

  “Look. That bird up there. Its searching out its prey in the grass somewhere near the hazel trees,” he whispered.

  The two baby bucks sat either side of Corinthius and watched intrigued as to what the bird was going to do next. The chatter stopped and the bird hovered in the sky for a short while silently scanning the scene below. Then in one split second it nose dived down in to the grass at an incredible speed and all three of the bucks sat and waited for it to rise out of the green sea with its reward in its talons. But, nothing happened. Concerned, Corinthius gingerly trotted over to the patch of grass where the bird had aimed for. Burwin and Bremo followed cautiously behind. What he saw was a sparrow hawk lying in a patch of damp mud with its neck twisted to a sickening angle. In its claw as it lay dying was a little white mouse trying to wriggle away desperately. Corinthius stepped forward and nuzzled the bird's claw open and the mouse scarpered off in to the long grass. Burwin and Bremo chased it excitedly and tried to nudge it out in to the open. But, Corinthius didn't follow them. He stood and stared at the small brown bird and watched its yellow eyes roll over in its head. The bird was brown on its back, wings, and underneath which revealed it was female. Mia came over to see what he was looking at.

  “So, sad,” he said, mourning the bird's brutal but quick death.

  “Perhaps, but this is nature, Corinthius,” said Mia gently and wishing Corinthius wouldn't pain himself with the things she saw as every day events.

  “Still, I saved a mouse today. That's something,” he said slowly shaking off the melancholy that had enveloped him.

  He went to shoo the baby bucks away from scaring the mouse. Mia smiled and they all went off in to the forest to cool off out of the morning sun. Zelna and Geru joined them as they found a cool glade and dozed lazily in the shade around its ring of day light. Corinthius lolled about lazily sniffing the deep, woody scents that were evaporating up from the warm forest floor. The air was thick with pine needle aromas and pungent flowers and it was all blown through the glade and beyond through an unseen corridor where a cooling forest breeze escaped through. It was the first time in a long time Corinthius felt at ease as he enjoyed the moment. He looked over to the three does and the two little bucks and they had begun to nod off in to a warm nap. Corinthius was just about to follow in to his own slumber when he again became aware of birds chatting in the trees again. He could hear very sweet singing coming from a chorus of birds he hadn't heard before. His curiosity got the better of him and he got up and he gently wandered off in the direction of the singing which sounded like sweet little bells chiming in a mild wind.

  There on a large low slung branch smothered in vine leaves were perhaps close to thirty little birds in the most divine colours he had seen. They had migrated in from far off exotic lands and were resting for a while in the shade of the forest. Some birds had strips of electric blues and magenta pinks on their breast and crowns and were called Sky Bottlers. Among them were a handful as brilliant yellow as the sunshine with silver and black dots in their plumage who were called Gold Hunters. The remaining ones were snow white with beaks of orange peppered with red and collars of cerulean blue and they were called Reedmill Catchers. Corinthius thought they were all the most beautiful things he had ever seen and stood staring at them rooted in astonishment as a few at a time dived off their branch and pecked at the soft mud in the forest floor for insects.

  Then from a fir tree to Corinthius' left sat a brilliant red coloured bird. Its breast was cream coloured and it had half a dozen different shades of red in its wing and tail feathers with a sliver of black standing out to great effect. Another black strip emerged from between its winged shoulder blades and curved up into its spiky black crown and down to the bridge of its yellow beak. It was a Crimson Pepper Wing. It looked at the other birds then over to Corinthius as it tweaked its head this way and that to take in the presence of the wondering stag in its eyes of black glass.

  And then it began to sing. A song so sweet and honey toned on par with the robin. Yet, its song was far more complex and rapturous. A large number of the birds sounded to its sweet reply and then the little red bird planed down off his branch and landed on Corinthius' antlers. It then began to gently peck away for insects in the fur on the top of his head.

  Then something spectacular happened. The other birds flew off the branch and landed all over Corinthius' back and some sat singing on his wide antlers. Corinthius felt his heart fit to burst with happiness and walked back to where the others were dozing. He decided against waking them and wandered off in to the meadow towards the thin stream. Many of the little birds drank their fill from the water and proceeded to clean their wings, before ascending on to his antlers again. Corinthius enjoyed the mild tickling in his fur that their tiny beaks made and felt blessed that he had made some new friends.

  Many of the birds were perched on his antlers when Bremo pranced out of the glade and in to the meadow. He was astonished to see Corinthius decked out like the finest Yule tree in the land and ran up to him to inspect the birds. The birds immediately began to inspect Bremo's fur for insects and he wriggled excitedly under the tickling of their bills.

  After a little while had passed and the sun disappeared behind a thin cloud Geru came out of the forest and saw Corinthius' antlers adorned by the vivid coloured birds who were still happily singing their hearts out. Bremo was on his back giggling as three birds searched for insects in his belly fur.

  “Bremo, come here, please,” said Geru from the entrance to the forest.

  “This is too much fun, aunty. You should try it,” giggled Bremo.

  “Get here. NOW,” demanded Geru furiously.

  Bremo rolled back on to his front instantly.

  Corinthius looked over at the stern Geru then down at Bremo who shuffled in close to his side.

  “Go on, little one, it's alright. It's me she's really angry with not you.”

  Bremo sighed and stood up and ambled sheepishly towards his aunt. Geru scolded him by head butting his haunch and Bremo quickly scarper
ed back in to the glade. She turned and looked over at Corinthius and gave him a look of great disapproval which saddened him greatly.

  Chapter 3

  A couple of days later they all left the meadow and went hunting for fresh wild plants in a denser part of the forest. Corinthius wandered off on his own near a giant elm tree when he was attacked with such force to his right flank by a very large stag. Mia quickly ran to his aid after she heard him scream out in pain. She was struck almost dumb when she realised who Corinthius' attacker was.

  "Elkuri?," she gasped.

  "How dare you mix with this underling, Mia. How do I know nothing about him or where he comes from? I am supposed to know everything that goes on in my Kingdom," boomed the Vasterium king of the stags.

  "I am free to mix and befriend with whomever I wish," said Mia, her voice quivering.

  She motioned to Corinthius with her eyes for him to stand up.

  Elkuri didn't like this interaction between them one bit and as Corinthius scrambled up on to all fours Elkuri ran towards him once more. But Corinthius moved just in time. Elkuri rammed his antlers in to the bark of the tall elm tree that was behind his intended target. He looked a bit embarrassed but then rounded up on Mia to take control of the situation again.

  "You will mix with whom I say you can."

  Corinthius came up slowly to Elkuri who looked like he was ready to charge at him again.

  "I mean you no harm, Elkuri. I promise you. Mia and her sisters have only offered me a temporary home until I find my way."

  Elkuri frowned. He seemed bemused by Corinthius' statement.

  "A temporary home?" said Elkuri before turning to Mia sternly. "Stags do not hang around does looking for temporary homes, Mia. Why does he not know this? Is that what you like? Peculiarities in a potential mate?"