Dante returned to Istanbul on Monday night, choosing to stay at his apartment instead of heading to the island. Tuesday was a busy day. He was finishing the last of his lectures at the university before he returned to his usual research duties at the Koch Museum of Natural History. He liked immersing himself in research much more than teaching, so he was looking forward to the change.
Tired of endless flights and dealing with customs, Dante fell into a restless sleep on his bed. Tossing and turning, he kicked away his sheets and dreamed…
Dante ran into a wild forest, heart pounding and fear filling his mouth with a bitter taste.
It was him, but not him, but the fear felt very real. He looked no more than eighteen years old. Dressed in a simple brown tunic and dark trousers, the colors of the fabric dull, his feet in coarse leather shoes with rabbit’s fur on the rims. He held no weapon. His hair was longer, black, and wild.
He ran fast, stumbled, and lost his path. He ran deeper into the wild forest, past massive tall trees and thick bushes. Behind him, a pack of wolves howled, as they gave chase…
He ran faster, biting back a whimper when he tripped over a large tree root and managed to escape a fall. Stealing a glance behind him, he cried out when he saw three large wolves coming at him. They were close, so close…
He tripped again.
This time he fell into a small clearing surrounded by tall trees. He fell to the ground hard, his fingers digging into the mud and decayed leaves, looking for a stick to beat the wolves off him. He turned to see the first wolf rushing him and fell on his butt, heart in his throat, fear taking over. His hand closed over a thick branch and he brought the branch up, biting his bottom lip hard. Breathing hard as the wolf jumped in the air, its jaw wide open for the bite. Heart speeding in his chest, he closed his eyes, and then…
Silence.
All he could hear was his beating heart and his harsh breathing, his hands trembled as they gripped the thick decayed branch. It took him a moment to open his eyes. When he did, he stared into amused amber eyes. He breathed in hard, taking in the young man crouched a few feet away.
Amber eyes studied him in turn. Dante frowned. The unusual eyes reminded him of a fox. The young man looked lithe and very clean despite being in the forest. Unlike Dante, he wore vibrant robes made of thick wool and dyed a brilliant blue. His leather boots were constructed with thick leather and decorated with gold metal on the edges. His red-brown hair was combed into a tight ponytail on top of his head. He was very handsome, and when he smiled bright and charming, Dante dropped the branch and fell back on his elbows.
A chuckle followed and the handsome man shook his head.
“Why are you lying down in the mud?”
When Dante met an amused gaze, his cheeks filled with fire and he had no words to say.
“Still scared?” Amber eyes asked. “They won’t hurt you.”
Dante looked beyond amber eyes and sat up when he saw the wolves sitting around them. He scrambled to his knees, fear filling him again.
Shaking, he looked to the young man who had straightened to his full height.
“I promise, they have found different prey,” Amber eyes said, as though his words would explain why the wolves still sat watching him with intense interest.
“I—Are you sure?” Dante asked.
“Very,” Amber eyes said, when Dante still looked at the wolves with apprehension, he sighed. “I’ll send them away.”
“How?” Dante asked.
A smile, and then amber eyes turned away from him. In the next moment, the wolves got up and ran deeper into the forest.
“There, they are gone. What is your name young man?”
“Durante. What is yours?”
“Names are a powerful spell,” Amber eyes said, taking Dante’s arm and helping him up. Dante was taller than his savior was, but not by much. “If I give you mine, it might get you in trouble.”
“I don’t care, you saved me,” Dante said. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“Won’t you?” A smile, and then a nod. “I suppose it doesn’t matter anyway. You can call me Ryuzo. You ran into my domain in distress, so I helped you, Durante. Now you’ll help me by not telling anyone you’ve seen me.”
“Do you live here alone?” Dante asked, looking around the wild forest. “Aren’t you afraid of wild animals? Where is your family? You can stay with mine if you don’t have one.”
Ryuzo chuckled, making Dante look at him. He liked looking into Ryuzo’s amber eyes. It didn’t seem right for such a handsome man to live in a forest.
“You are sweet, Durante. Where is your family? Why would they let you get chased in the forest by wolves?” Ryuzo asked.
“We were collecting herbs on the slopes of the hill. The wolves came without notice,” Dante said. “I diverted them so my mother and sisters could get away and get help.”
“Oh,” Ryuzo sighed. “Help means burning fires in the forest. We should get you back before your family decides to burn down my forest. I’ll walk you to a safe path that will get you back to the slope and down to your village.”
“What about you?” Dante asked, as Ryuzo turned away from him and started walking. Dante followed, careful to keep close in case the wolves returned.
“What about me?” Ryuzo asked, his voice gentle, calm.
“Do you really live in this forest?” Dante asked.
“Yes. It’s my home.”
“Aren’t you lonely?” Dante asked.
“I don’t understand,” Ryuzo said, reaching up to move a large tree branch, waiting for Dante to pass before he followed. “Why would I be? The wolves are good company, and so are the foxes and others.”
“There are no other humans here,” Dante pointed out. “Your family—”
“I have an uncle,” Ryuzo said. “He’s not home often but we live together.”
Dante sighed and shook his head, making Ryuzo stop to look at him.
“What?”
“Are you sure you’re okay living here?” Dante asked.
“You’re a peculiar mortal.”
Ryuzo continued their walk to the edge of the forest. He walked fast, not giving Dante another chance to talk. He didn’t stop until they were on the edge of the thick forest and Dante could see the path leading to the slopes and beyond that his village down below.
“Here you are. Don’t run into the forest again,” Ryuzo said. “I’m not always around to help you.”
“How do I find you if I want to thank you?” Dante asked.
“Enter the forest on a sunny day like today,” Ryuzo said.
Dante looked up. The sun was high up in the sky and the valley was awash in light. When he turned to look at Ryuzo again, disappointment filled him when he found Ryuzo gone. No trace of him was left behind.
The images shifted, blurred in a haze of life in a village, and then Dante was once again entering the thick forest high on the hill. It was a sunny day. The sun was high above in the sky. Dante had made an effort with his clothes; they were clean, though not as vibrant colored as Ryuzo’s robes. He was clean and his hair was brushed and trimmed. He carried a sack of fresh apples from the tree growing on his father’s farm. A smaller bag held fresh bread, cheese, and dried seasoned meat.
His steps were wary as he entered the forest. He hoped the wolves were not around. He did not want to be a meal while he was trying to thank a mysterious man with one.
Shaking his head, he stepped on an old branch and it cracked in the relative silence of the forest. He jumped and looked around him afraid the wolves would turn up again.
“You’re back,” Ryuzo’s voice reached him before he saw him.
Dante clutched the bags he held and turned around, searching the trees.
“You shouldn’t have come,” Ryuzo said, his voice soft. “I gave you a chance to escape me.”
“I worried about you here…alone,” Dante said. “The weather has also not been cooperative. I—I worried…”
“You should worry for yourself,” Ryuzo said, with a chuckle.
A soft wind caressed Dante’s ear. When he turned around, he stared at the Ryuzo standing before him. Ryuzo was in green. A wide leather belt holding his tunic in place at his waist. His red-brown hair was still in a ponytail and his amber eyes truly resembled the eyes of a fox. Even the iris was a thin black slit. Dante took in a deep breath.
Ryuzo smiled and lifted his right hand for Dante to see. His fingernails turned a deep black, extending into sharp claws.
“I could rip your neck open and let the wolves have the prey they lost,” Ryuzo said, his gaze on Dante, a challenge in his voice.
Dante let out air and took in another deep breath. There was no cruelty in the amber eyes looking at him. He knew what a cruel gaze looked like. The village elder’s son had a cruel gaze. The bastard whipped his wife often until she grew welts on her arms and back. Once, Dante helped his mother carry the woman to the healer. He had to fight off the village elder’s son to get to the woman. The eyes of the village elder’s son were filled with dark intent.
Yet, this man standing before him amber eyes similar to a fox carried no ill intent. His eyes might stop anyone else from taking a step closer, but Dante took one. The sharp claws on a strong hand would frighten anyone, but Dante knew…Ryuzo would not hurt him.
“How do you do that?” Dante asked, studying the dark long claws. “Your hands didn’t look like this last time.”
Ryuzo narrowed his gaze at him then let out a soft chuckle. He kept his hand up for Dante to see as his nails slowly changed back to the normal shade of a human’s nails.
“What are you?” Dante asked when Ryuzo dropped his hand to his side.
“What do you think?”
“A fox,” Dante said, with a grin. “A clean fox, I’m surprised.”
Ryuzo laughed then.
“I’ve never been teased about being clean. I hate being dirty.”
“So, are you one of the foxes who cheat men out of their fortunes?” Dante asked. “The Village Elder told us a tale of a fox who changed into a beautiful woman and seduced a merchant in the village beyond ours. Do you know her?”
Ryuzo laughed harder and the birds responded chirping with delight around them.
Dante stared as Ryuzo tossed his head back at a perfect angle. Ryuzo’s laugh musical in the wild forest. His eyes closed in delight. His heart sped up and he reached out to touch the curve of Ryuzo’s lips. Ryuzo stopped laughing and stilled, looking at Dante.
“I missed you,” Dante said, his voice low. “Somehow, as the days passed, day and night, I thought about you and wondered how you were. I—I missed you.”
“Durante is dangerous to me,” Ryuzo said in answer, holding Dante’s gaze in silence.
The dream changed again.
Time running ahead, Dante watched days of Ryuzo and Durante exploring the forest together. Ryuzo gifting Durante with a handsome black tunic, more meals from Durante, Ryuzo introducing Durante to the wild wolves, and finally the two of them playing under a waterfall, naked. They had their first kiss with the water falling on them. The kisses turned to more and Ryuzo showed Durante his lair hidden in a cave behind the waterfall. They made love on a bed covered with wolf fur. A gold mist slowly covered Durante’s body in the process though he did not appear to notice it wrap around him like a second skin. Ryuzo did though, touching it with a finger and smiling in contentment. Later, lying naked on the soft blankets, Ryuzo told Durante he loved him. They looked happy.
Dante frowned when the time changed again.
This time, Ryuzo stood clutching a fence made of sticks tied together. His gaze on the wood house in the middle of the farm. It was night, and the yellow light from the candles made the house look warm. Laughter drifted to Ryuzo and his hands tightened on the sticks. The kitchen door opened and Durante came out of the house stumbling drunk. He looked handsome in a white tunic, his hair brushed to perfection and leather ties braided into it.
Durante stopped when he glanced at the back fence and saw Ryuzo. His drunken stumble to the fence where Ryuzo stood was heartbreaking.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” Durante said in greeting. “I thought you only showed yourself when the sun is high.”
“The moon is high,” Ryuzo said, his voice rough with emotion. His gaze rested on the plain silver band on Durante’s left wrist. “You are bound to another this eve.”
“She is a good woman,” Durante said, shaking his head. “My mother needs a helper and grandchildren.”
“I cannot give these things,” Ryuzo said in a whisper. “I cannot take them from you either if you want them.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ryuzo stared at Durante in the moonlight. His amber eyes shone with tears, then one single one fell down his left cheek and he turned away.
“Be happy.”
“Ryuzo,” Durante started, “Wait. I—”
Ryuzo did not give him a chance to say more, instead disappearing into the night faster than Durante could see.
“I’m sorry,” Durante’s broken whisper filled the night.
Dante woke up with a jerk, the whisper echoing in the depths of his soul. Sorrow at the loss and heartbreak filled his chest, it felt out of place. He pressed his hand into his chest and took in deep breaths as he tried to fight off the heavy feeling. The dream felt too real. The vision of sad amber eyes filled his thoughts and for a moment, it was all he could see. Taking in a deep breath, he let it out in an effort to shake off the strange dream. Rubbing his eyes, he groaned when his phone buzzed on the bedside table.
Reaching for the black gadget, he answered the phone with a grunt.
“Arturo.”
“Good morning. I’m Rachel from the Elderwood Conservancy. Please hold for Mr. King,” a pleasant feminine voice said.
Dante sobered up, getting off his bed, he adjusted his sleeping shorts at his waist and walked to the window. Pulling back the curtains, he stared out into the forested park near his apartment complex and hoped Tom King was giving him good news.
“Mr. Arturo,” Tom said. “Sorry to call so early in the morning. We have finished analyzing the soil samples you left with me. I would like us to meet to talk about the results. Are you on the island?”
“I’m in Istanbul at the moment. I have one last lecture at the university this morning,” Dante said. “Then, I have a few errands to do after I return to my usual office. I can try to make it to the island by late afternoon.”
“Why don’t we meet tomorrow?” Tom asked. “We can make it a day to spend on your vineyard’s business. You won’t have to come to the conservancy. We can meet at your vineyard.”
“We?” Dante asked, curious about the people working with Tom.
“I have a very talented assistant who is interested in the soil samples,” Tom said. “Her name is Hera and she helped me analyze the soil samples. We might bring a third, but that depends on availability.”
“I’ll give my mother a call so that she can expect you,” Dante said, thinking about the olive grove and hoping it could be saved. “I will probably arrive on the island in the morning. I’ll meet you at the vineyard.”
“That sounds like a great plan,” Tom said.
“I’ll send you Mom’s number so you can agree on the time.”
“Great,” Tom said.
“So, what do you think the problem is?” Dante asked.
“We profiled the samples,” Tom said. “The soil has obvious signs of degradation. Depleted nutrients and highly acidic at 2.0 pH. We would like to have a look at the source of the samples in order to discover what caused the problem. It could be mismanagement of fertilizers.”
Dante doubted Hasim, their vineyard manager, would mismanage their organic fertilizers. Still, maybe a new worker had mixed up solutions and made a critical mistake.
“I’ll explain it to mom so that she can check our stores and the farm logs,” Dante said.
“With the right care the problems are reversible, we just need to catch it before any damage is done to your plants,” Tom said.
“Thank you so much, Mr. King,” Dante said.
“Please, call me Tom.”
“Then, I’m Dante, Tom.”
“See you tomorrow, Dante.”
Tom ended the call.
Dante dialed his mother right away to tell her about Tom and arrange for tomorrow, his dream forgotten.
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