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Plans come into motion…\n\n\tAfter weighing on the decision for at least half an hour, Alex steps out of bed and dresses up in all black. He silently sneaks from out of the home and into the gauze of dreamy moonlight, where watch guards on duty do their routine walks. The boy quietly finds his way into the diner hall, where he snatches scraps of food to wrap in a cheesecloth before venturing to the cell. His hands twitches as he stands at the door and he prays that Raethum isn't on the other side. Slowly, he turns the knob, then locks himself inside before lighting the small torch at the entrance. Immediately, he's faced with the group of starving demons at the front. They beg for him to kill them and put them out of their misery, but he shuffles along and away from them until he reaches Drew's cell. Once there, he places the torch on a post and enters, finding Drew still tied to the X shaped board.\n\tThe demon boy opens his eyes, squinting into the torch's light. He coughs wetly and spits onto the ground. “Who. . .who's there? I know you're not Raethum.” He coughs again. “Another fucking Dark Mage come to the exhibition? To see the great experiment?”\n\t“No, just a wind mage.” Alex answers. He stops in his tracks just as he's about to put the cloth down a table, but notices a collection of skulls sitting upon it. Alex uses the torch to light several other candles before he steps closer up to the demon. “I'll let you lose from this if you promise not to escape or attack me.” 'Not like he could anyway' Alex thinks. 'His body has been stuck in this position all day. I can't imagine he could even stand on his own right now.'\n\t“Yeah, whatever. I promise.” He looks at Alex, “You really aren't a Dark Mage are you?” He shakes his head. “I know this is some sort of trick...I know Raethum sent you to test me. It won't work.”\n\t“Sure, if that's what you want to believe.” Alex unties the tight rope bound to the boys wrists and quickly holds him up with all of his weight from having him fall over. Slowly, he helps him to the ground and then unties his feet. The boy leans him against the wall and retrieves Raethum's wineskin. “Drink up. I brought you some food. Raw meat and fish. What's he been feeding you?”\n\t“I don't know...I'm so hungry I don't ask.”  Drew takes a sip of wine. He sighs and his body relaxes. “Do you have water?” He takes a fish. He looks at it, turning it over in his hands, his eyes misting up. “You don't look like a Cruiberg.” He takes a bite of the fish. His eyes flutter and close and he chews very slowly. He takes another small bite.\n\t“Well, I am.” Alex responds, nagging him as he grabs a dusty glass of water. The boy sits across from the naked demon and examines the cuts and scars on his body. The ones from this morning are already mostly healed. “What's your name?”\n\t“Drew. What's yours?” He chuckles, grimacing in pain. “You're cleaner than most Cruiberg. And I'm filthier than most demons.” He takes another bite of fish.\n\t“I wouldn't blame you. It's nice to meet you, Drew.” Alex extends a hand. My name is Alexander Yorem. “I might be Cruiberg, but... I don't think it's right to hurt young people our age.” He leans closer, judging the scar around his neck. “That's a pretty brutal scar you have there. Mind if I ask how you got it?”\n\tThe demon boys shakes his head slowly. “It's a long story. It ends with my husband leading me to be beheaded for murder.” He nibbles his fish. “Well, it ends with me being beheaded actually. Somehow, the gods brought me back.”\n\t“Shit. So that's what they mean by you being some immortal boy.” Alex spits. He finds Raethum's pipe and lights it, offering it to Drew. “You know, I was once in that prison too and facing the same sentence, but I escaped because I knew I had more to live for. Not just revenge, but love as well...” He sighs. “So the Gods brought you back, huh? Ever wonder why? Maybe I could help you. I have a unique ability to see into people's souls.”\n\tDrew holds up a hand, refusing the pipe. “Do you really want to help me? Can you help me escape?” He leans forward, eager for Alex's answer. He leans back, his eyes widening. “You were in the same prison in Harath?”\n\t“No, I can't help you escape. But I can try and help you as best as I can until I think of something that won't get us both killed by a sadistic cunt.” Alex smokes and blows rings of smoke to his right. “Yeah, I imagine so. The capitol's prison. My guard was hot as fuck too. Unfortunately, he just wanted me for the information I could give him. Thought he really liked me too. It's strange how I can see so many things all at once but my infatuation with certain people gets me carried away. That's how it was with Aldan... But I found someone else, someone way better now.”\n\t“Aldan? Drew whispers the name. Did . . .did you say your guard was Aldan?” He leans forward again, grabbing Alex's arm. “When. . . when was this?”\n\t“A while back. I'd say... Six to nine months ago?” Alex mutters. He notices Drew grabbing his arm, but doesn't seem too alarmed.\n\t“How was he? Did he seem well?” His eyes well up with tears.\n\t“Did he seem well? At the time, maybe. Now? Definitely not.” Alex pauses. “So you knew him... He's still alive; Aldan's a commander with his own unstoppable force now. In fact, his group is one of the highest threats to our victory. Thing is that rage can only empower you for so long before you self destruct.”\n\t“Rage?” Drew wipes his eyes. “If what I've heard is true, it's more than rage. Do you know what really happened? To his family. . .I heard about it second hand and read about it.” He looks at Alex, biting his lip and wringing his hands. “I've hoped and prayed what I heard was wrong...Tell me what you know. What you truly know, Alex. Please.”\n\tAlex takes the wineskin and finishes it before tossing it at the wall. “The dark mages had it out for Aldan after he had ruined their plans to destroy parts of Harath and cause the humans there to hate the demons, so they set out an assassination for him and his family. My King sent his own assassin to kill the dark mages by my request, but it wasn't enough. Only his two eldest children are alive now.” He pauses, undecided on whether or not to go into detail. “What were you to him? More than his guard, I reckon. Wait! You must be the one he married... The demon boy that wrecked his heart.”\n\tDrew draws his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. He drops his head onto his arms and cries. Between sobs, he speaks softly. “You bastards. You're all bastards. You use children in your war because you're too weak and cowardly to do your own dirty work. You tried to use me. Then Lev. And when you're stopped, you kill a pregnant woman and two young children. Raethum isn't the worst of you. He's not even and exception. How many kids have you killed?” He looks up at Alex, glaring at him. “We married, yes. I didn't wreck his heart. You're lying about that. We loved each other.” He wipes his face. “I don't know what you're doing...don't know if I can trust you. If what you say is true, that you and your king tried to save Katie, I'm grateful. Keep your King away from Aldan if you can.” He looks away. “Aldan is the best man I've ever known. And you people killed his wife and babies. It will take a lot of blood to quench that fire...” He looks at Alex “What do you want from me? Why feed me? Why treat me with kindness?”\n\t“Empathy, maybe? I know what's it’s like to be tortured in a cell and I know what it's like to be dead, too.” The boy lights the pipe again and blows smoke out of his nostrils. “Look. I don't fear or dislike demons or anthros. It's Harath that I'm focused on destroying. Whether you like me or not doesn't matter, because I'm still going to come back here every night and do whatever I can. Maybe I could make some medicines to help with your wounds or so you're not in as much constant pain.”\n\t“Why do you hate Harath so? You seem more like a Harathi than a Cruiberg.” Drew sniffles and wipes his face. He takes a long drink of water. “You don't fear or hate us, but you're a part of the army that's trying to exterminate us...I don't understand that.” He looks at Alex and reaches out a hand to him. “Take my hand.” When Alex takes his hand, Drew holds his hand tightly. “Whatever help you give me, you have to be sure Raethum doesn't find out. Clean water and fresh food. Medicine would help, too. You said you know what it's like to be dead. How did it happen to you? Is that why you hate Harath?”\n\t“Partly.” Alex replies, dawning the cheesecloth into his pocket and cleaning up after himself. “The King and his family abused and betrayed me, along with my own family. It's a long story... So yes, I was once Harathi, but never again. Maybe at some point you could be one with us too, but I doubt it.”\n\t“Me be a Cruiberg?” Drew looks back at his rack. “The only way I'll ever be a Cruiberg is if Raethum takes my skin after he kills me with his insane experiments and makes a suit out of me.” The demon boy leans forward, stretching the muscles in his back. Alex can hear the boy's bones popping. “I'm sorry King Haelax and his family mistreated you. Doesn't matter if it's a long story. I want to hear it. A little bit each night while we talk and eat. You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine.” Drew grins and laughs a little bit. His eyes grow somber almost immediately. “You said Aldan might be close. If he is...can you get a message to him somehow? With your magic? You said he was hot. . .Did you two have feelings for each other?”\n\t“I had feelings for him, but he didn't for me. The magic doesn't work like that.” Alex walks over to a bucket for waste and pisses into it before heading back to the demon boy. “Basically, I come in contact with you and can see everything you've gone through along with visions of your future. Sometimes it's blurred and other times it's clear.” His eyes notice Drew's cock. He fidgets and blushes, immediately turning himself to the side. “Uhm, I could try reading you if you'd like.”\n\t“My future's pretty easy to see. More days on the rack. Endless pain and torment until I die. I guess I should be grateful Raethum doesn't rape me.” Drew leans back, laying flat on his back, stretching his arms over his head. “You have no idea how good it feels to be able to stretch! Well, maybe you do.” He looks at Alex. “What did you do to end up in Aldan's prison?”\n\t“Killed my brother out of jealousy and revenge. He was always treated better than me and was meant to become a high nobleman and commander for the King.” Alex spits and continues smoking. “I'm sure he didn't deserve death no matter how much of a horrible brother he was to me, but I couldn't stop the rage building inside of me. My family and the King had set it all up..”\n\t“Fratricide. That would do it.” Drew lays on his back, relaxing. “I wish I could take a bath. That's one thing I never got to do with Aldan. One of many things we never got to do.” He raises up to rest on one side. “Do you want to read me?”\n\tAlex nods. “Please.” He ashes out the pipe and sets it between the two skulls on the table where he had originally found it. The boy moves up closer, taking both of Drew's hands into his own. The demon is scolding to the touch, but it doesn't burn or affect him. The essence of fire and light that it brings floods Alexander's mind like rays of lightning. All of Drew's life threads out to him, including memories that not even the demon remembers having. He consumes all of it in a matter of a minute before being breached with a void so silken and black that it seems to pierce into his heart. Alex flinches and bites his lip as the pain slowly subsides. “Gods... I never knew I could see things like this.”\n\tBehind the wind mages eyes, the boy finds himself standing as a shadow in a spherical room made of glass in a cemetery of collapsing nebulas and dying stars. “I see the Lord of Light, Luca, and three successors with him. Lady Salune and Corus are there as well.” Alex walks over to an open sarcophagus, where Drew's lifeless body rests. The demon boys mother stands above him and touches the boy before disintegrating into dust. The Gods speak to one another while two young girls approach the coffin. The first lady heals the grave wound the separates Drew's head from his neck before the other girl fills the casket with a jar of fluorescent water. “Your mother was forced to sacrifice her eternal life in order for the ritual to fully commence. I'm sorry, but you'll never see her again, neither here or after...”\n\tFlames rapture through Alex's visions. He see's a dragon, nearly thirteen feet tall, breathing fire upon Cruiberg's. Then he see's Aldan caressing Drew in bed. “You'll be reunited again. And he will bathe you too.” Alex opens his eyes and lets go. “That I can promise.”\n\tDrew is silent for several minutes. He weeps quietly, wiping the tears away. “My mother... I killed her. Accidentally, when your Dark Mages started trying to control me. I didn't mean to, I didn't even know what I was doing. Didn't know what I was capable of. I just lost my temper and. . . And she sacrificed eternity for me.” Drew holds his face in his hands and cries. “If you. . .if you saw me with Aldan, did you see when that will happen? Does he rescue me?”\n\t“Well, he must have. Maybe I can see more some other day.” Alex stands up and grabs the rope. “Sorry, but I have to tie you up.” He begins tightening Drew's hands while speaking. “Tomorrow, I promise to be of use. But I must go.”\n\tDrew stands and moves back against his 'bed'. He doesn't resist as Alex reties him. “I know you have to tie me up. Raethum would go berserk again if he knew you let me down, even for just an hour.” He sighs. Thank you for the food and the company. “I'll see you tomorrow, Alex. I'll be here.”\n\t“I'm sorry, again, even though it doesn't mean much. Goodnight.” Alex turns away. He takes the torch with him and lets out the fire before exiting the cell. One of the soldiers on night duty almost notices him, but Alex is quick to hide behind a fence post before quietly rushing back to his quarters. Once back home and in his room, he strips nude again and carefully positions himself back in bed. The boy lifts up the sheets and stares at the two cocks between him, grinning wildly before cuddling with his lover and falling asleep.\n\n\n\tLater into the morning, the dark mage Raethum awakens in bed with his favorite boy to play with, Varon. The young one sits up nude, holding a wooden tray with breakfast and coffee on it as the older man rubs the gunk out of his eyes.\n\t“How kind of you. I thought you'd be asleep much longer after all of the fun we shared.” Raethum smirks. He runs his fingers along the bruises on Varon's arms, chest and back. They're fresh from whips and flogging tools. Varon shivers and his erection grows under the tray. The mage feels underneath and rubs at the swollen head as he sips from his coffee. “You're hard already. I might have to take care of that before we can even eat.”\n\t“Are you sure?” Varon asks and moans. “Oh Gods... Please. Raethum!!!”\n\tThe master of darkness takes the tray with one hand and places it on the night stand. He pulls the sheets off of the bed and delves his head down into Varon's crotch, sucking him fast and hard.\n\tAfter their breakfast and early festivities, Raethum dresses in a thick brown and hooded cloak with nothing underneath. He treads his way to the prison, pissing through the cell onto the prisoners at the entrance and then lights his torches and candles, which brighten the oppressive rooms. It wreaks of days old shit and piss and the staunch of blood and rotting death is just as extreme. He takes a dagger in one hand, keys and medicine in the other, then wanders to the main cell to drug up the group of demons that are as skeletal and fragile as a stick. Afterwards, he tosses their own bucket of feces right back at them and closes their door to be with his most favorite toy of all.\n\t“You're awake. Good!” He opens the boys mouth and pours the rest of the vile down. Raethum looks down, noticing how parts of Drew's body below his chest are either scaled or glowing red. The demon cringes in constant pain and torment as his body reacts to the medicine and potions that are constantly used on him. “Beautiful. I'm hoping that we can complete your transformation today. I have good faith in you too, Drew. You'll be a good boy and not die on me, will you?” He walks back over to his table and examines his tools. His hand moves towards a potion bottle, which he mixes with the ashes of dragon bone and a poison that counteracts with it to help speed up the process of his transformation. Raethum pours it down Drew's throat, kisses him afterwards and then lifts off his cloak. He turns away to grab the mask he had made long ago out of a goat skull, attaches it to his face, then he begins to gently trace along the boys chest as it spasms and chaotically reacts to the medicine.\n\t“Stop it! Please, Luca, Lord of Demons, bring me out of this madness! Take me, kill me! MOTHER!!!” Drew screams as his entire body spasms. New bones are formed while others collapse and others grow in size. His internal systems and muscles do much of the same, while his blood takes a different form.\n\t“Haha! Hahahaha! So beautiful! If only you could see yourself!” Raethum steps back. He begins masturbating himself as he watches Drew's body take on a new shape. While the demon boy screams and tries to break free, Raethum coats his dagger with potion mixture and laughs at his idea. The older man stands side by side to Drew, holding and stroking the horned one's flaccid penis as the tip of the knife forms circles around his chest. “I want you to enjoy this too, Drew. This is going to be a big accomplishment for you. Perhaps this is why the Gods brought you back. They wanted you to be here with me. So that we can be one.” Raethum chants a mystical spell over the knife, assuring himself protection and complete control over Drew. “Yes... You're going to be my dragon now. You're too weak to fight me now. Ah, you're even transforming in my hands! Look down at it.” He licks his lips. “You'll kill the water dragon of Aigua for me. Crush their kingdom and bring me their Kings crown. I'll fly with you as you kill every last demon in E'hbel. Oh, how sweet and ironic it will be that a demon will be the one that ruins them! Come, Drew! Come for me.”\n\tThe knife protrudes into Drew's stomach and the demons final stage of metamorphosis occurs. The wood he's bound to snaps with splinters springing out in all directions. Raethum quickly rushes back, knowing fully well that the prison he's made for him and the other demons will soon collapse. Thinking as quickly as he possibly can, the dark mage uses his enchantment spell on Drew to command him forth; a chain of light appears in the mages hand, which is bound to Drew as he's dragged out of the prison. Raethum pants, sweats, grits his teeth in pain as he uses all of his strength to drag the demon out of the room. Once outside, he takes cautious steps back and watches as the boy changes with the magical chain increasing in size around his neck. Soldiers gather and watch, immediately dropping the tasks at hand to observe the spectacle occurring in front of them. \n\tSome soldiers move closer for a better look, their hands dropping instinctually to their weapons. Other's move away, uncomfortable with such magic. All of them are breathless, their eyes fixed on the spectacle taking place before them.\n\tKing Marus, Sir Alexander, and Sargonne are sitting, having breakfast and going over their proposed route for Markus and his personal guards to rejoin his army and meet the Harathi. The three are going over a listing of supplies when one of his men bursts into the room.\n\t“My King! Raethum is doing something with one of the demons. It's . . .” The man shakes his head, pointing outside. “It's . . . You must see it for yourself, Sire.”\n\tMarkus rises and moves to the door, calmly. Alex and Sargonne can see urgency in his eyes, but he moves carefully. His squire gives him his sword and bows as the king and his friends exit their house.\n\tThey hear screams of pain first. Alex pales as he recognizes the voice. Drew. The demon boy he befriended in the dark of night. Thoughts run through Alex's mind. Did Raethum discover his visit? Are Drew's screams the result of Alex's visit. He resists the urge to run ahead. Alex stays by his king, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.\n\tThey move through the village-camp, pushing through groups of soldiers stand agape at what's happening. They stop as one. Alex gasps out loud, bringing his knuckle to his mouth and biting down when he almost says Drew's name.\n\tThe demon boy is on the ground, writhing and twisting as he cries out in pain. A chain is wrapped around his neck, glowing with a malevolent blue light. But he doesn't look like a demon boy.\n\tHis legs have lengthened and thickened, bending at odd places in odd angles. His whole body is shifting, changing. Bones break through his skin at his shoulder blades. They lengthen and grow muscle, sinew and leathery flesh, transforming into small wings. His chest deepens and expands, the cracking of his ribs audible beneath his cries of pain and Raethum's chanting.\n\tDrew's skin is gone, replaces by a mixture of tough looking hide and scales. Scales the shimmer and grow with every breath Drew takes, with every convulsion of pain. Along his stomach and chest, the skin and scales glow with the light of a fire. Not reflecting an outside fire, but revealing an internal fire. His scales undulate like fire on top of water.\n\tHis hands, now paws ending with sharp, black talons, dig at the ground, churning great furrows into the hard packed dirt. His face twists and lengthens, a toothy maw and muzzle growing where once there was the face of a young teenager. The cry of pain becomes a roar. And as his mouth opens to roar in agony again, some men cover their ears. Alex and Markus and Sargonne do not. And they see deep within Drew's throat the glow of fire. The spark of dragon-fire.\n\tDrew's eyes open, huge and bright. Fire glows within those eyes. Fire and pain. They cast about in pain and confusion, tears running down scaled and leathery cheeks.\n\tWhat was a demon boy, slim and slight, is now a dragon. Perhaps fifteen feet from tail to snout, maybe longer. Thicker bodied. Covered with scales over a thick hide. Deep reddish and brown in color, the creature, lies on its side, gasping for air. Only the horns seem the same. Larger, longer and thick, they are the same striating pattern of the demon boy's horns.\n\tThe creature stands on unsteady limbs. Its long neck turns its giant head this way and that. There's a flash of recognition as it sees Alex. The beast frowns, its pain-addled brain trying to remember why that face brings hope. But then it notices Raethum. \tThe Dark Mage stands, leaning heavily on his staff. Sweat drips from his face. His face is beaming with delight and triumph. He cries out, pointing at the creature. “I'VE DONE IT! Raethum, Dark Magister and Maestro of the Dark Orders, has done what could not be done! I have created a dragon! Loyal to me! Loyal to Cruiberg! I HAVE DONE IT!!!”\n\tSome men cheer. The dragon creatures draws its head back. Its looks at Raethum, its head leaning to one side for a moment, then leaning to the other side. Suddenly, the beasts eyes narrow. It draws in a deep, long breath, pulling its head back almost as a snake preparing to strike. Its chest begins to glow red, a red so hot the air around the creature shimmers.\n\t“Get the fuck out of its way!” Alex shouts. Some of the men seem not to care or understand, but the majority of them quickly pick up on what's wrong. They scatter, roll and sprint out. The fire emanating from Drew is intimidating and scorching with extreme heat. It seems that the fire at the center of the dragons mouth is white and the bolt festering inside of it is spiraling at a hypersonic speed.\n\tRaethum turns his front back to Drew, but shows no fear to him. He finds the dagger again, points it at the dragon and begins chanting again. The enchantment immediately thrusts Drew's head back and has him choke on the flame in his mouth, causing him to let out a painful, harrowing cry that every man and woman can feel in the camp throughout their entire bodies. The dark mage continues repeating prayers and spells all the while of walking towards the beast, which falls down with a heavy fall to the grass. \tAlex notices the tears spilling from the large emerald eyes. He almost grabs at his lovers hand, but feels that it would be a noteworthy decision that would mark him as wing to the two standing beside him. Instead, he forces himself to watch as Raethum caresses the nose of the beast. Drew shuts his eyes and his body begins to shift once again, but this time back in his demon form. The two kings look away and hold their hands to their ears as the sound of the boys body changing into a different form haunts their minds, but the squire refuses to do so. Instead, he eyes Raethum with hatred and disgust.\n\t“You must be tired, Drew.” Raethum says as he rubs his hand over the demons chest. “I'll let you rest. Tomorrow, we begin digging into that brain of yours. For all we know it could end up being just as painful as this.” He speaks to him like as if he were a baby. The dark mage lifts him up with both hands, groaning uncomfortably and tiredly as he walks back to the prison with Drew in his arms. I'm proud of you. “Because of this I'll even feed your friends real food.” He looks at the group of prisoners holding onto the cell doors as he enters. Raethum kicks at it and laughs. “After I piss on it, of course.” Raethum carefully places Drew back down on the floor. The chain he formed for him vanishes. There's no need to bound him. The dark mage knows all too well that the boy will be too weak from the potions and his forced transformation to even stand for the next few days.\n\tWhen Raethum takes the boy away, Markus folds his arms over his chest. He looks down at the ground. Slowly, he turns towards Alex and Sargonne. The priest's eyes are wide and he still whispers prayers into the air as he watches his king. Markus looks at Alex. He can read Alex's unease. “Walk with me. Both of you.”\n\tHe walks slowly out of the camp, into the woods surrounding their encampment. He stops at a small stand of stumps. Trees that were felled when the Cruiberg took the village, to provide wood for repairs and construction. The Fire King sits on one stump. “Well, he begins it seems as if Raethum has succeeded.”\n\t“No. He hasn't.” Alex corrects him. “The demon can very well become a dragon, but it was just about to kill every last one of us in the matter of seconds. Raethum says we can train it or have join our side. No chance in hell.” He flaunts, resting his back against a tree. “I've had my vision of the dark mage already. We shouldn't trust him. He will take us down the same path as the previous maestro did.”\n\tSargonne sits on a stump between the King and Alex. He shakes his head, taking a drink from his wineskin and offering it to the others. “I am astonished, Sire. I've seen magic do great things. Transforming a demon into a dragon? It beggars belief. I don't know what to think about.”\n\tMarkus takes a drink, passing the skin on to Alex. “This certainly changes things. If you're right, Alex, and he can't control the Drew-dragon, it endangers us all and the war effort. If he can control it. . .” He shakes his head. “That gives Raethum a card in our games that cannot be beat. Dark Mages crave power. With such a weapon, he is a threat to each of the Five Kings. We have to keep that in mind.”\n\tAlex thinks deeply of his thoughts, but decides to spill them out even though he fears them. “I believe the demon should die. He's too great of a weapon.” What he says to partly true to his viewpoint, but he also wants Drew to be done with the suffering he's put through. “But of course, if Raethum can truly work his magic, then he would be our strongest weapon. I mean... If he can make him into a dragon then why can't he talk him into being on our side?”\n\tSargonne nods. “He's right. He's too great a threat. What if Raethum gets the dragon to obey him? He might decide Rakshahas should be the High King. The only King. Or that he should be the only King himself. I'm not so sure he can control the . . .creature. That depends a great deal on the strength of the demon's own mind.” He shakes his head. “I don't think we can afford to the risk. I agree with Alexander.”\n\tMarkus picks up a stray branch. He peels the leaves from the branch as he listens, then taps the stick against the toes of his boots. He's quiet for a time. “You both make important points. But, how does one kill a dragon? I think we'd have to kill the demon boy which means we'd have to do so very soon. Ideas on how to accomplish the death of the demon boy?”\n\t“We could poison him by chance. Although Raethum might detect something like that if he conducts and autopsy. He most certainly would, since he loves to use parts of demons bodies.” Alex says, thinking deeply. “We could stage a suicide for him too.”\n\tMarkus stands. “I know what needs to be done. I shall see to it. You two don't need to know more than that. For your own safety and peace of mind.”\n\tSargonne stands and joins Markus as the King begins to head back to the encampment. “You know my loyalty is yours, Sire. If I can be of service, just tell me what I must do.”\n\tMarkus takes Alex's hand, pulling the boy close. “I wish we could walk in the woods without these matters oppressing us. And I'm sorry for what I have to say next.”\n\tAlex nods, rubbing his forehead into Markus's chest. A deep sadness floods him; he knows where his loyalty lies and also what must be done for the poor demon. “Go ahead. Tell me.”\n\t“You and Sargonne will stay here when I move out with my army. I want you two to keep an eye on Raethum. On Rakshahas. On the demon boy. I'll leave couriers so that you can contact me if the situation changes. If Raethum gains control of the creature, if it escapes. Anything of note.” He sighs. “If I were to cancel our planned attack and stay myself, certainly they would become suspicious. So, the attack must go on and I must lead it. You two must remain behind and be my eyes and ears.” \n\tHe stops and turns Alex to face him. “But I don't want you to do anything foolish or dangerous. Just observe and keep me informed of changes. Understood?”\n\t“Yes, my King. Nothing foolish or dangerous.” Alex shrugs, turning his face away. “I know you don't really have a choice but to move out, but I'd rather be by your side than here. You know that I'd be safer. Rhys doesn't understand. It doesn't have to do about being tested anymore.” He raises his voice for a moment. “How long am I to stay here then? If you're going to fight Deklen as planned the battle could take weeks to accomplish.”\n\t“No, I won't be gone that long. This battle is against one of Deklen's subordinates. The fellow who moves his force every other day. He's only got three thousands under him. It's two days for us to get into position. One day to battle. Two days for me to return. Add in one day for something unexpected. I'll leave tomorrow morning and should be back in six days.” He looks at Alex. “Don't turn away from me. We won't engage Deklen unless it's Rakshahas' army and my own together. No, this is as much to get action for my men as anything. Perhaps we can capture some prisoners who may provide intelligence.” He smirks. “At least with Raethum transforming the boy, maybe Rakshahas will get off his ass and we can go out and engage Deklen. I've hated having to sit and wait. But Raks insisted. He wants to take the demon-dragon into battle. I think he wants to ride him, like a horse.”\n\tAlex almost laughs and spits. “The dragon would chomp his head right off if he even tried. We'll see what Raethum can come up with.” The boy responds. “The two of them begin walking back towards the camp, which has quieted down now since the morning fiasco. Everyone seems to be back to their usual duties, although they seem a little bit intimidated.”\n\tOnce they've returned to camp, Markus and Sargonne resume their planning for the King's expedition. Alexander joins them as do a pair of other officers from Markus' force. They soon have the details of their departure solidified along with the requirements for each soldier's food and water, and other supplies. They enjoy a light lunch together before breaking for other duties.\n\tSargonne works at preparing first aid supplies for the physiker's wagon. The sergeants inform the men and women what they're expected to pack and carry and arrange for carts and wagons for other supplies. Markus lingers behind with Alex.\n\t“Weapons practice, Alex? Archery?” Markus moves next to Alex, standing close to him in front of the fireplace in their great room. He takes Alex's hands in his own, leaning down to brush his lips along Alex's neck.\n\t“Sure. It feels like forever since I've used my bow, although I'm sure it's only been a few days to a week.” He giggles through his ticklish nature. Alex lands a kiss on his Kings lips before rushing to grab his equipment. The bow hangs from the side of his back with a few dozen arrows in the quiver. Before they leave the two of them have a prolonged moment with one another of tongue kissing, cock groping and massaging one anothers chest.\n\t“Gods, it curdles my stomach to leave you again. You've only just returned and now we have to part.” Markus sighs as the pair walks slowly to the makeshift archery range. “It can't be helped. I argued for a cohesive strategy for the war, to no avail obviously. High King Rhys was inclined to agree with me, I think. But Rakshahas and the brothers didn't want to be bound by a master plan. Which means they didn't want to be bound by my plan.” He sighs.\n\tThe makeshift range is a popular training area. Men and women practice with bow and arrow or javelins. A few use small throwing daggers. People stand aside, ready to allow Alex and Markus to practice right away, but the King insists that the pair wait their turn like everyone else. When it's their turn, Markus takes a half dozen javelin throws before making shots with his bow. One of his soldiers, a woman with her blonde hair tied back and a red scar along one cheek offers the King advice with his javelin technique, which he accepts. He pauses to watch Alex loose his arrows.\n\t“No way could I use one of those long sticks.” Alex says, aiming for the target at hand. Two of them almost make a bullseye, while the others hit a bit off, but still on the target. He steps back, frustrated with his performance and tries to relax again. Upon his second turn he chooses to focus on the way the wind blows, which calms his senses and makes everything seem so natural and at ease to him. The boy fires three on the bullseye this time with the rest almost hitting it. “If I'm a wind mage I should probably listen to my senses more often. Maybe I'd be even better if I had someone train me with the powers in my blood.” He frowns at Markus, who holds one of the javelins.\n\tMarkus shrugs at Alex. “What? Why are you frowning at me?” He hurls his last javelin at the target. “We don't have many wind mages in Cruiberg. The Dark Mages tend to keep them away. Once the war is over, we can try to find one to teach you.” \t“Yeah, sure...” He shrugs. “I just don't want my skills to be limited.” Alex takes one of the long spears and does his best to hit the target, but is not only way off but ends up hitting someone else's target! The boy bursts out into laughter. “Well, there's something I need to work on!”\n\tMarkus smiles. “At least you hit something. Once we've conquered Harath, it should be a simple thing to find an ambitious Wind Mage to tutor you.” Markus looks up, judging the time by the sun's position. “If you're done, I believe we need to choose your cohort. Ten men and women, who will serve as your personal body guards and the nucleus for your personal army.”\n\t“Of course. If I can I'd like to have the same as I previously did. They're quite trustworthy.” Alex judges every name off of the top of his head and tries to decide which ones would work best. Both of them work on a list once they make it back to their home, which takes a near thirty minutes for them to decide. Alex also offers his own tips and ideas for Markus for their battle in hope that it will help them.\n\tBefore dinner, Markus has the ten that Alex has chosen brought to the same small clearing where Markus, Alex, and Sargonne had conferred after witnessing the dragon.\n\t“The ten of you have been chosen to form Alexander's first household guard. I've elevated him as one of my Huscarls. You'll serve him with the same loyalty and courage that you've shown me. I remain your King, of course, but Alex is your Lord now.” Markus pauses for a moment, letting the weight of his words sink in. “Alex, would you like to say something before oaths are taken?”\n\tMarkus moves to the side, sitting on a tree stump. Sargonne stands by, observing without comment. The men and women give their attention to the teen.\n\tAlex clears his throat before speaking up. “Even though you won't be going to battle with Markus, let I remind you of the constant threat lurking around us and with its possibility to attack at any given point. Surely we'd win, but this is no lounge home or vacation. We're still at war. Anything can happen, so be prepared at any second. We must continue keeping our headquarters safe just as Markus will do his part as well.” He looks to Sargonne, hoping his words were good enough.\n\tSargonne nods his approval and steps next to Alex. “If I may?” Alex nods and the older priest looks to the collected soldiers.\n\t“King Markus and Sir Alexander chose you ten. It isn't a whim. It's a testament to your bravery and skill. You will be serving a brave and courageous huscarl. But he is young and doesn't know all of our ways. That means he will have to rely on your brains as well as your sword arms.” He walks among the soldiers, patting their shoulders, looking them in the eye. “We've seen him fight. I think he's worthy of serving. I think he'll bring glory to our names and victory to Cruiberg. But it's up to you to choose if you shall take the Blood Oath and bind yourself to Alexander.” He moves back, standing with Alex.\n\tOne of the soldiers stands. A woman, tall and lithe, her head shaven except for a long, brown pony tail, wearing a chain vest over leathers. She bows slightly towards Markus, who tilts his head in reply, and then she looks at Alex. “Sir Alex, will there be plunder? Silver and gold? Will we be allowed to capture slaves for ourselves?”\n\tAlex smirks. “In here? I'm not so sure. We might not be here for too much longer. But slaves that you do have or earn along the way should be treated respectively. If I witness any extreme maltreatment, especially molestation or rape, the person will be dealt with accordingly.”\n\tSoldiers murmur among themselves. An older man, his gray beard knotted in two braids with silver clasps weaved in his whiskers, stands. “It don't sit right, swearing to a Harath...but...lad's fought bravely, did his best to save Florence, And he ain't a Harath no more. He's Cruiberg. A Yorem, same as our King.” He looks at Alex. “I'll swear the oath. The man steps forward, offering his right hand to Sargonne.”\n\tSargonne takes his dagger. He holds the blade toward the sky and utters a short prayer. “Before King and Gods. Before Blood King Markus and Emerak the Bold, by their blood, we bind in service Jurri Graybeard to Alexander Yorem. Jurri as hirdman, Alexander as lord.” He draws the blade across Yurri's palm, then looks to Alex. Without pause, Alex offers his hand and Sargonne draws the blade across his palm.\n\t“I will serve and obey, Alexander as my lord. Even if I should die in the doing.” Yurri clasps his bloody hand with Alex's bloody hand.\n\tMarkus nods his head and let's a sly smile creep onto his face as the other soldiers line up behind Yurri to swear their oaths to Alex. By the last man, Markus' chest has swollen and he smiles broadly.\n\tAlex swears his part of the oath. “I shall serve each of you by leading you with courage and honor. I will not spend your lives carelessly or thoughtlessly. I will care for your family if you should die in my service. We shall, together, bring glory and victory to Cruiberg in the name of OUR King, the Blood King Markus!”\n\tThe men cheer. Markus hugs Alex tightly and they head back to the camp for dinner. “Always remember these ten, Alex. They're the first. Treat them well and their families will serve you for decades. Treat them poorly and no man will swear to you again.”\n\t“I will. In fact... I'll start now, if I may.” Alex kisses Markus on the cheek before heading off to get his tray of food for the night. Instead of eating with the High King Rakshahas and other nobles, he decides to eat with the soldiers he's now bound his oath with. He jokes with them and discusses their private lives, along with their family or life in Cruiberg to better know who they are. By the end of his meal he feels that he has a good enough idea of what kind of soldiers they will be for him.\n\tAlex chooses to stay with them after their hearing through each and every ones lengthy discussions. Instead of barging into the tent where the King's eat he decides to wait for them to finish speaking, feeling that it would be offensive to interrupt in the middle of a discussion. At some point he see's Raethum heading from out of the prison and joining Varon for dinner. The dark mage seems much more withdrawn than usual.\n\tMarkus and Rakshahas discuss the pending split of their forces as they eat. Markus makes a number of suggestions for reallocating sentries and scouts with the reduced forces, but Rakshahas seems indifferent. He does offer a toast to Markus and his men, hoping for their victory over the Harathi forces in the coming days.\n\tAlex's hird, or bodyguard, are pleased that he eats with them. After a few beers, they loosen up, speaking hopefully about their new lord. The meal is enjoyable for their company and comraderie. When dinner is finished, some of the men break into card or dice games. Alex plays a round of dice, but excuses himself when he sees Markus preparing to leave the mess tent. His soldiers grin and wink.\n\tMarkus angles for Alex, speaking to one of the quartermasters for a moment before joining his boy. “How was your dinner? You seemed to be enjoying yourself.” The king smiles. “We missed you at the head table, I must admit.”\n\t“It was decent, but I don't mind. Eating with the others provided me some insight into what they're like and how I can command them if need be. I think we should have our own time now though, just you and me.... Nobody else.” Alex says, licking hips and raising his brows. They walk to their home and Alex sits down to pull off his boots. “I'm going to clean up a bit first, okay?” He waits for Markus to nod before standing, in which they meet with a long kiss. The boy has his mouth open in awe as he walks away and to the bathroom.\n\tInside of the baths, he 'prepares' himself for the festivities just in case, washes himself quickly in the bathtub, dries off and slips into a fuzzy brown bathrobe before trailing into the bedroom. His erection grows quite quickly inside of it, easily noticeable against the thin fabric. “Better now.” He wags his head like a dog, shaking water out of long brown hair.\n\tMarkus is laying atop their bed, a towel draped over his hips and groin. He rests with his eyes closed, his hands clasped together behind his head. His chest rises and falls easily. His smooth skin entices Alex.\n\tWhen Alex shakes his hair, water drops land on Markus. His eyes spring open and he smiles at his lover. That's cold! He chuckles and reaches out to Alex, pulling the boy close when he takes his hand. Pressing his lips to Alex's, the pair kiss deeply. The King's hand drifts down, caressing Alex's tummy and brushing lightly over his pubis. “Well, how shall we say good-bye tonight?” He leans back, pulling Alex on top of him. His arms reach around to embrace the boy.\n\t“I think you know how.” Alex says. He eases the drawstring on his robe, letting the head of his erection poke out as he does so, then revealing it in all of its entirety. Markus helps him strip out of it and toss it to the side, leaving him completely naked. When he sits down upon his King he feels the mans prick grind against his ass. Alex sits up again, lunching his cock in front of the man's face.\n\tMarkus grabs Alex's hips, raising his head to kiss the tip of Alex's cock. The King peppers Alex's dick with light, soft kisses. Along the shaft, over the head, on the frenulum. Gradually, the kisses become more passionate, with Markus' tongue easing out to lick and tease the swollen boyhead of his lover. \n\tThe King leans back on his pillow, his mouth open in a large \"O\".  “I'm waiting, Alexander, for you to slide that dick into my mouth until your balls rest on my chin.”\n\t“As you command, my King.” Alex says, grinning happily. He holds onto the bedframe with his hands and thrusts his cock into Markus's mouth, easily able to pummel into out and pull back out. He fucks the willing hole and moans, looking down at his lover sucking him off and moans. “Yeah, suck that dick babe. You love how it tastes and how it feels.”\n\tMarkus slurps loudly, guzzling Alex's cock in his mouth. Reaching around with one hand, he squeezes his lover's firm, smooth buttocks. His fingers trace lightly along the crack as he sucks the boy deep and hard. His other hand roams over the boy's stomach and chest, squeezing and pinching his nipples. His tongue works on and around the head of Alex's cock, tracing the edge of the head, following the veins on Alex's shaft, lingering on Alex's circumcision scar.\n\t“Fuck! You're gonna make me cum before you fuck me.” Alex gripes. His moans grow louder, especially when his ass is graced by his favorite hands, which finger his soft and hairless ass. He pumps faster and braces himself before he ejaculates, firing six shots into Markus's throat. He pulls out once he hears Markus slurp up the last drop, although his hard remains just as hard as before, hoping that it'll get a second load to spray out tonight. After his massive orgasm, the boy shifts to the side of the bed and yanks the towel off of Markus, tossing it against the doorway and laughing. He spits into his hard and starts stroking his King. “How about you rim me while I suck your cock?”\n\tMarkus slides himself towards the foot of the bed. He spreads his legs, his erection pointing eagerly to the ceiling. The precum oozing along the tip catches the candlelight. He grabs Alex's hips, helping the boy climb on top of him and tucking his legs up so that his ass is open and available to his king. Markus kisses Alex's hole, lightly teasing it with his tongue for a minute. He nibbles on one of Alex's cheeks before plunging his tongue into the boy's hole. Alex moans, and Markus smiles as he pushes his tongue deeper into the boy. Soon, he is loudly slurping and eating Alex's young ass.\n\tAlex grips one hand around the shaft, teasing the head with his tongue before going down to smell at his sack, which has a perfect manly scent of sweat to it. His tongue swirls around each testicle before taking them both into their mouth as he massages them with his lips and tongue. He kisses his way up the shaft before taking all of it deep into his yearning mouth. The teens soft red lips and generous amount of spit in his mouth are all pleasures like none other upon the King's rod and Alex uses his gifts and skills to his upmost ability. His hands squeeze, fingernails digging, palms resting upon the man's thighs as Alex takes all of him into his mouth slowly.\n\t“Gods, that feels good.” Markus moans into Alex's ass. Gently, he slips a finger into his boy. Then he adds a second. He feels around inside the boy, pushing in, reaching for his pleasure gland. He knows he's found it when Alex moans loudly, gasping for air as his body trembles. He fingers Alex, sucking on his balls as the boy works on his cock. “I'm close, Alex...drink it down and then I plan to fuck you. Long and well.”\n\tAlex strokes and sucks him faster; the sounds his mouth makes are loud and turn his master on to no end. He 'mmm's and moans as he sucks, using tongue mostly on the underside of Markus's shaft is it glides against his gums and into his throat.\n\tMarkus' entire body jerks. He grunts and moans as his cock unloads in Alex's mouth. Streams of cum throb into Alex's mouth as Markus' ball pump the seed hard. Five streams, large and thick, fill Alex's mouth. Markus breathes deeply. “On your stomach so I can fuck you. . .”\n\t“Yes sir.” Alex says, licking cum off of his lips before swallowing the rest of the sweet milky load. He bounces up in the bed and lands on his tummy. Once resting, he raises his ass up in the air and perfectly positions himself, proving to be a master of bottoming. Alex hugs and rubs the side of his face against a long pillow before looking back to watch Markus stroke a decent amount of grease over his cock. “Fuck yeah. I love how your dick shines when you're getting it all greased up. You're so beautiful, babe.”\n\tSmiling, Markus slaps Alex's left cheek and then his right. “You're not bad from this angle, either, my boy.” He smacks the cheeks again. “You're not bad from any angle. In fact, I'd have to say you're pretty damned hot from every angle.”\n\tMarkus pokes his head against Alex's hole, slipping it just inside the boy. Rather than pushing in more deeply, he slaps Alex's ass. Hard. The sound of the spanks fills the room for a moment. Markus eases himself in a little more, spanking his boy again. Alex's cheek glow red and hot when Markus pushes his entire six and a half inches into his lover. He leans himself forward, slowly pumping in and out of Alex. His stomach and chest rest against Alex's back. He reaches out, lacing his fingers together with Alex's. His breath is hot and moist on Alex's neck. “I love you, Alexander.”\n\tThe young Cruiberg's prostate is fully massaged by each thrust, granting extreme pleasure through Alex's boy during every single second of their love-making. His cock pulsates just from the feeling of being fucked. “I love you too, my King. Markus and Alexander Yorem.” Alex opens his right hand, noticing how both of their palms have been scarred and healing. He closes it again and holds tightly, enjoying the brace of their skin as the King pushes into him again and again.\n\tWith every thrust deep into the boy, Markus groans. When he's not kissing Alex's neck and ears, he rubs his face against Alex. Their bodies are plastered together, the two becoming one. Thoughts of Harath and Cruiberg, thoughts of the war evaporate from their minds. All there is in the world is the two of them, joining together in pleasure, joining as one in love. “Can I make you cum like this, Alex?”\n\tAlex nods, moaning and biting his bottom lip. Sweat trickles down his shoulders and neck. “You've done it before. Just fuck me harder.” He teases, shaking his ass and tightening his hole around Markus's cock. Both of the moan like crazy and then proceed to kiss, albeit fast and messy like rabid animals.\n\tMarkus begins fucking his boyfriend harder. “As you wish. . .” His body slaps against Alex's. The sound fills the room, overshadowing their moans. Faster and harder, harder and faster the king pounds his cock as deeply into his boy as he can. Sweat drips from his face, dotting Alex's back. Markus grunts like an animal, deep and guttural. Alex can feel the king's heartbeat pounding against his back. “You were made for me, Alex...My cock belongs inside you! Aagghh! Yes!” The king's breathing is rapid and ragged. Alex senses that his lover is close.\n\tAlex moans, licking all around his lips and painting the most obscenely seductive faces as he continues with his tricks of pleasuring Markus's cock while bottoming. It's not long before he feels his own orgasm ready to burst, which swells in his tight sack while his cock dances. He lets out a loud gasp as his seed spurts out onto the sheets. “Fuck! I'm cuming, babe! Fuck yes!”\n\tMarkus lets go of Alex's hand. Without missing a beat, he continues to pound the boy's ass as he slides the hand under Alex. He squeezes the boy's cock and smears Alex's load all over his palm and fingers. Pulling the hand out from beneath the boy, he licks some of the cum from his hand. The rest he smears on his face. His grunting shifts to a higher pitch and suddenly. . .\n\tAlex feels the cock inside of him swell and loose its load. His insides are coated in the royal seed as Markus gasps and moans. “Uunngghh, baaabe!” He pumps as he cums, firing another half dozen loads into Alex before he collapses onto Alex's back. His cock remains hard and deeply embedded in the boy. He kisses Alex's back and shoulders as he lays on him.\n\t“That was perfect. Beautiful.” Alex says, moving up closer and kissing Markus's shoulder. They cuddle close and tongue-kiss for a moment. “I know you'll be safe in the battle, so there's no need to worry. But being parted always hurts.”\n\t“Yes, it does.” He smiles at Alex. “You're ahead of me there. I worry for you constantly. Not so much the Harathi. More so with Rakshahas and the others. Let's get cleaned up and get some sleep, Alex.” He runs a hand through Alex's hair. “My beautiful Alex.”\n\tAlex hops off of the bed and wipes himself off with the towel Markus had previously wore, then does the same with his lover before enveloping himself as the bottom spoon in bed with him. He blows out the candles and eases into a gentle rest with his lover... That is until his dreams overtake him.\n\n\tOnly two hours after sleeping, Alex slips out of his rest and finds himself in the pitch black darkness of his bedroom. He sighs, wiping sweat from his forehead and moves to the end of the bed. Nightmares of the King's daughter again. She always finds her way into his mind even when he feels he's at his safest.\n\tSeeing that it's night time, Alex slips into the closest garments of his on the floor. He's careful to step out of the room and fish for a cigarette, which he lights and keeps along the side of his mouth as he ventures around the kitchen. Eventually, Alex finds the medicine cabinet, which is full of mason jars with herbs and various healing materials. He figured that if a demon lived here then there would most certainly be something left behind from their time. Alex smirks, taking a small jar with him and exits the home. The Cruiberg heads to the diner to find some left over food, then to the prison, igniting the same torch as usual and stumbling into Alex's cell.\n\tThe demon boy lays on his side, seeming to be awake but barely conscious of his surroundings. He notices the bowl of water set out for him on the other side of the cell. “Drew, it's Alex. I have some food and medicine for you. Can you sit up at all?”\n\tDrew shakes his head, just barely. “No...”\n\t“That's fine. I'll... I'll help you up.” Alex says. He carefully maneuvers Drew to lay his back against the wall. Thoughts from his conversation from before dig into his thoughts. If Markus hadn't of commanded him to do anything risky he'd surely put an end to the demons suffering now while also eliminating the horrid threat that he could be if Raethum's plans don't work out. “I have some cuts of salmon for you. It's not much though.” He notices the nasty wound on Drew's silvery white tail, which isn't bleeding, but still looks just as bad as before. “And I also brought some medicine to put on your tail. You're strong, but if that wound gets any worse you might end up crippled or in worse pain.”\n\tDrew looks up at Alex. Tears well in his eyes and run down his cheeks. “It hurt so much, Alex. You can't imagine how much it hurt.” He takes small sips of water and rips small bites of salmon as Alex tends his tail. “I wanted to kill him. To just crunch Raethum in my jaws and turn him to ash with my fire.” The demon boys weeps quietly. “But I couldn't. I tried, I really did. I just couldn't. And then he turned me back. It hurt so much. The demons who died are the lucky ones. I'm cursed. I'll never die. I live forever as Raethum's plaything.” The demon boy crosses his arms and cries into them.\n\t“It's okay to cry. Let it all out.” Alex frowns, rubbing the clear ointment over Drew's tail. He wipes his hands clean and moves the bowl over to the demon. “Did he do this to torture you too? Treat you like a dog? Here...” He takes the bowl, carefully helping the boy drink the water from inside of it down before placing it back on the floor. “If it helps at all and I'm sure it doesn't, I saw Raethum die in my visions of a horribly violent death. Perhaps you were the one to do it.”\n\t“He says that demons are worse than dogs. A dog will fight to protect itself and demons are too cowardly to fight.” He drinks the water, wincing as Alex tends to his tail. He likes inflicting pain. “He likes torturing me. He says I can't be killed so he can do anything to me.”\n\t“All because you've been brought back doesn't mean you're immortal, Drew. Be more careful with this life and don't kill some idiots because they bothered you.” Alex chuckles, but quickly disregards his badly placed joke. “You know that he would stop if you just joined us. Maybe he would even help you with the pain. I know you won't agree now, but perhaps you will at some point.”\n\t“Turn against my people? The ones who never visited me in jail or spoke out for me when I was condemned? I can't do that.” He shakes his head slowly. “There's no way I could do that to my people.”\n\t“Of course you can.” Alex raises his voice, but calmly shifts away to assure the boy that he's not trying to be a threat. “I don't want to hurt you, but this is war. How am I supposed to be friends with someone that's on the other side? Your people have abandoned you. Hated you. Praised your execution. Don't you want revenge?”\n\t“No. I don't.” Drew shakes his head. “What would revenge accomplish? They abandoned me, yes. But that doesn't mean I should abandon them. Besides, you're killing the demons of Varn Ra now. The demons who left me are in Brackenford. In Harath. Why would I want revenge against demons who never harmed me?” He looks at Alex. “Besides, who says I'm on the other side? All I want is to be free of this place and find Aldan. I'd love nothing more than being a house-husband to him. But you people won't leave me alone. Won't leave my friends alone. And you want me to turn on them to help you? I can't do that.”\n\tAlex stares at Drew in disappointment, knowing all too well that Drew won't give in. It aches him to know that when the time comes... Maybe he could poison him and the demon would die without even feeling a thing or realizing it. The horrible thoughts consume him. Soon enough, he finds his eyes welling with tears. “I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm supposed to do.”\n\t“You're Cruiberg. You're supposed to rejoice in my pain, right?” Drew looks at Alex. “Except you're not. Are you? And you don't rejoice in my pain. What do you want to do, Alexander? With me? For me? Why are you here? Feeding me, bringing me medicine. Listening to me. You're not what you pretend to be. Or what you want to be. You're helping me because someone hurt you in the past, just like Raethum hurts me. I guess that makes us brothers, in a way.”\n\t“Shut up already.” Alex says under his breath. He closes his eyes, pulls on his hair and exhales. “The only reason I feel bad for you is because you're a kid just as young as I am. Maybe we're two years apart, whatever. That's all.” His lie doesn't work on Drew. The boy kicks at the floor again. “I'll see you tomorrow night. Hopefully your tail will be all healed by then.” He says, rising up and taking the jar with him.\n\tDrew struggles to his feet and limps next to Alex. He leans his head on Alex's shoulder for a moment. “Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. Thank you, Alexander. Stay safe.”\n\t“Shit. You're making me cry.” Alex wipes the tears from his face, hugging Drew hard. “You deserve to see Aldan again, even if it means we have to be on opposite sides and fight in the future.” The teenager breaks apart, stepping away and putting out the fire before heading back outside.\n\tA strange fear rushes through Alex's blood before he notices an older, much taller man standing to his side bumping into him. King Rakshahas glares down at the boy. “Out for a walk, are you?”\n\t“Ah, yes, my Lord.” Alex bows. He sneaks the jar into his pocket immediately and hopes that the King doesn't notice.\n\tRakshahas stares at Alex, his cold eyes sweeping over the boy. Up and down he looks with his one good eye. “Strange place for a walk. Our cells for our demon prisoners. Did you find one to your tastes?” He leans close and whispers, “I must say, I'm surprised at you Alexander. What would Markus say if he knew?”\n\t“It's not like that.” Alex easily slips into a lie and plays with it. “I was curious what Rakshahas was up to in there. To my surprise, I found a cell of starving demons and his new pet. At first I thought about kicking his dog around, but I didn't know if that would anger Raethum.” He snickers, pretending to be cruel and please Rakshahas. “Instead, I went into the other cell and tortured one of the other slaves for information.”\n\tRakshahas snickers and sneers, “For information. Did you find anything useful? I'm about to try to get some information.” He winks at Alex. “From one of them.” Rakshahas chuckles. “Best leave the one called Drew alone. He is Raethum's favorite and we have big plans for him. He and I would be angry if someone interfered with our plans. I've heard stories that you're quite. . .energetic as far as sex goes. Jeremey confided that he could barely keep up with you.” He rests a hand on Alex's shoulder. The boy can smell the hard whiskey on the Fire King's breath. “Jeremy and two of his best warriors and they could barely satisfy you?” He reaches down, fondling Alex's privates. “You almost make me wish I liked boys.” Rakshahas laughs and lets go of Alex's junk. “Don't worry, I won't divulge your fun with King Jeremy to Markus. As long as you don't cross me, that is.”\n\tAlex steps back and nods his head, giving him the cold shoulder. “Of course, my lord. I must get going.” He nods and begins walking back to the house. His body shakes as he recalls the feeling of Rakshahas touching him. Once inside, Alex pulls off his shoes again, heads into the pitch black room to strip and cuddle back up with his lover. An hour passes before he finally drifts back off to sleep. This time he simply dreams of nothing and wakes up in bed to see his King getting dressed for battle.\n\tMarkus pauses as he dresses. He leans over the bed to kiss Alex. “Good morning, Sir Alexander. Rough night? You slept uneasy. I almost woke you. You had a look of such . . .pain on your face. I held you close and whispered to you and you seemed to calm.” He sits on the side of the bed. “We have time if you'd like to talk.”\n\t“Seems like an every-night thing that's been going on for years.” Alex shrugs, pulling back the sheets and sitting near his King. He's nude with bits of sunlight peaking through the window to glimmer over his body. “You look quite handsome today. Haven't seen you dressed like that in a while either.”\n\t“It's not the most practical dress for every day.” Markus knocks his knuckles against his plate vambraces. “Tends to make people worry that you're apt to kill them.” He grins. “That's not my style of rulership. But, when the circumstance calls for it.” He stands, turning to let Alex view his armor and ensemble. “When time calls for it, there's no reason not to look good.” He sighs and stares at Alex. “Get dressed or you're going to tempt me out of all of this and we don't really have time to fuck and then dress again. But, oh, how I wish we did!”\n\t“Yes sir”. Alex says. He turns to the dresser and dawns for the clothes he war at the beginning of the war when he was simply noted as a squire for Markus - brown linen pants, tight black boots that go halfway up to his knees, a creamy gray tunic first and a beautiful leather piece that works as armor. The last bits he puts on are the pendant symbol for the Blood King to his heart and a small codpiece under his belt. \n\tThe boy attaches one sword and two daggers to his belt, then waits for Markus with a smile on his face.\n\t“Stunning. Absolutely stunning.” Markus leads Alex to breakfast. They eat in front of the fireplace, a light breakfast of oat porridge and fruit. Men and women come and go, getting last minute orders and delivering last minute reports. “I'll be leaving four couriers with you as well as Sargonne. You'll have your guard as well. If you need to contact me, send a courier. Don't hesitate. I've left you four so you don't have to ponder whether a message is vital enough to send to me. Likewise, I'll send messengers to let you know how we fare.” Markus sighs. “We'll be back inside of a week but it feels like it will be longer.”\n\t“I pray that it goes by faster so that we can leave this place together and prepare for the next major battle.” Alex says, drinking his coffee as if it were water to pull him out of dread and into the embrace of his lover, who he has so little time with for today. “Do you think you'll even get to do any fighting today? Or will it simply be commanding people?”\n\t“Most likely, no fighting today. Something unexpected could arise. We'll be prepared either way.” They finish breakfast and head outside. “I'd tell you not to worry, but I don't think you'd obey.”\n\t“No... I'm not worried at all, actually.” Alex says. “I know I should because I love you and all, but I know that these idiots are no match for your men.” He snickers and laughs, finally waking up and enjoying his breakfast.\n\t“We hope. You never know in battle. One lucky arrow. One unlucky stumble. We're as prepared as we can be. We have every advantage and I like our chances.” He shakes his head. “But I won't claim the victory already won before we've fought the battle.”\n\tThey move outside, carrying steaming mugs of coffee. The supply wagons and their escort are already moving out. Some of Rakshahas' men cheer Markus' force as they depart.\n\tMarkus points at the wagons as they disappear around a bend in the road. “You know why we send them out first? They move so slowly. Give them a bit of a head start. I'll move out last with my horsed guard. We'll have the vanguard by midday.” He turns to face Alex. “Any last minute questions? Advice?”\n\t“Nothing you don't already know already.” Alex says, watching the other soldiers who are excited to finally battle for the first time in weeks. “End them as quick as you can, surround them if possible, use high ground... And that I love you, I love you, I love you dearly. That's about it.”\n\t“Three times you love me? That's more than enough to carry me to victory.” Markus takes Alex's hand in his own. He holds his hand tightly as they watch his men march away. They're rough and disorganized. The Harathi would call them a mob. Alex knows, though, that an army is how they fight, not how they march. All the pretty formations and ordered marching aren't going to save Harath. Not this war. Not against Markus and Alex Yorem together.\n\tMarkus releases Alex's hand. He mounts his horse, the great, dark steed that Markus favors above all others. The King leans low to one side. He brushes a hand through Alex's hair and kisses his forehead. “Be safe. Use the couriers. Keep an eye on things for me.” Markus cups his hand to Alex's cheek. “You are my boy. Be safe.”\n\t“I will, my King.” Alex's eyes well up red and he quickly dashes the tears away from his cheeks. He smiles back up to him, turns his head to the right and notices Sargonne walking over to them. The priest holds the boy close to him as they watch Markus slowly depart their headquarters.\n\tSuddenly, another horse comes dashing by and stopping in front of them. Young Varon smiles down at his 'friend' and jumps off. “I'll be heading off too, Alex. My King wants me by his side. It seems like it'll just be you and Rakshahas men for now.” He looks around, noticing Raethum heading to the prison. The pain and anguish of having to leave his own lover hurts him as well. “Stay safe, my friend. You have to stay alive so that I can beat you some day!”\n\t“Yeah, alright. We'll see about that.” Alex half-smiles and shrugs. He watches as Varon dawns back onto his horse and joins with his men.\n\tWith Markus and his men departed, the camp seems quiet. Almost empty, even though Rakshahas and his men are still in residence. Sargonne sighs and looks at his friend. It feels . . .strange. Quiet. Abandoned. It always takes some getting used to. The ebb and flow of war. One minute, you're at a table made for six but there's ten of you. You're elbowing each other, reaching over each other for bread or beer. And then? He snaps his fingers. One morning, there's three of you at the table and it feels the most empty place in the world. And it's graveyards that over crowded. The older man sighs looks to the sky. “Storm's brewing. We should have the men lay in extra firewood. He nudges Alex You okay, lad?”\n\t“Sort of.” Alex looks up to the sky. The gust of wind breezing past him has him at unease. Something's up. “I don't know what, but I can feel it coming our way. I'm going to have my men and women ready for anything. Now would be the perfect time for an attack with two armies leaving. We're just like sitting ducks here...” He speaks quietly, almost as if he can feel the presence lingering from further away.\n\n\tThe day passes slowly for Alexander and Sargonne. They tend to their duties, going over reports and messages, Alex acting for Markus with Sargonne's advice. The pair take time after breakfast to spar with each other and with Alex's fird. “What's a fird?” Alex asks when Sargonne uses the term.\n\t“Hmm? Fird? That's your body of warriors sworn to your service. Men may serve you without the Blood Oath, but they're not part of your fird. Your fird are your most loyal and trusted men and women, all sworn to you by blood.” Sargonne explains. “I have no title or power. No position. Thus, I have no fird. You're a knight, if not a proper prince. You're allowed to have as large a fird as Markus or the High King allows. Raks, Jeremy, Klaus? They have no say in the matter. Just Markus and Rhys.”\n\tAlex nods. A part of his ego is pleased knowing how he has his own men bound to him by blood, but in all he does it for Markus, not just himself. He doesn't know if that's the right philosophy to have though, being that he wants to protect his men and women as they protect him. He continues to spar with them until lunchtime. By then, the boy is pleased with how tranquil and automatic working with his new warriors has become.\n\tAlex and his troop break for lunch. They head for the mess tent, picking up their food and eating outside the tent. The air is cool and a light breeze blows consistently. The men and women talk about the battle that Markus and their fellow soldiers are marching towards. Unspoken, but known to all, is their wish to be there, fighting alongside them all.\n\tAs they finish their meal, leftover beef and pork cooked together in a thick broth with potatoes, carrots, and turnips, a lone rider enters camp at a gallop. The rider speaks with a guardsman, then head for the mess tent. He bows before Rakshahas as the King is leaving the tent, and speaks to the King.\n\tRakshahas listens intently. When the rider finishes, he bows to the king and takes his mount to the stables. King Rakshahas smiles and claps his hands together. He spies Alex and chuckles before turning and heading for his quarters. He bounces in his steps, calling out greetings to his officers as he walks.\n\tSargonne leans close to Alex “Anything that puts him in that good of a mood makes me nervous.”\n\t“Yeah. Even better yet is that he's giving me the face...” Alex notes.\n\tOne of the soldiers sprints towards Alex and stops to speak. “Sir Alex Yorem, the King has called to speak with you alone. It's urgent.”\n\tAlex looks at Sargonne and rolls his eyes. He finishes his beer and follows the man across the field and to the dinner tent, where Raks stands at a long table, which has nothing but a map stretched out on it. The boy immediately recognizes the map as the one he had drawn long ago of the Harathi King's castle way before the war and when he resided in Markus's castle. There's some changes though according to the plans he had previously written.\n\t“I'm guessing you know what this is.” Raks says. He hushes the soldier behind Alex away as the young Cruiberg steps forth.\n\t“Yes... I'm the one who made it. Question is how it fell into your hands when it was well hidden and tucked away at Markus's castle.” Alex won't let his stare go as he looks into the ruthless King's soul. “What the fuck is going on?”\n\t“War, my boy. War.” He looks at Alex, smirking. His marled and ruined eye leaks some sort of milky fluid. Raks brushes it away absently. “Obviously, it wasn't that well hidden, was it? And I think it should be obvious to a boy of your talents what's going on. I'm disappointed you haven't figured it out. Shall I tell you or would you like to guess?”\n\tThe boy pauses, reading over what was been fixed for the battle plans. When Alex had first wrote it out he had wanted to make sure that it would inflict as little damage on the Cruiberg side as possible, but from what he see's now Raks has turned it into a complete bloodbath and suicide mission. “I know what you plan to do. You could have done it my way and had just the King and his wife murdered, but you want everyone to die. Not only that, but you want to plot more attacks across all of the capitol. You'll put the migrants in Cruiberg into extreme danger by doing so. They'll be found, lynched, maybe even cleansed ethnically. This is a horrible idea, Raks...”\n\tThe older man's eyes narrow. “It's King Rakshahas to you.” His voice is low and he speaks slowly. “You are not a King. We are not 'pals' or 'buddies'.” His face relaxes. “And you haven't been as nice to me as you are to Markus and Jeremy. Tsk, tsk. That's very rude of you, by the way.” He takes a cup, sipping from it as he points to the map. “The Cruiberg living in Brackenford will have to defend themselves, then, won't they? If they can't, they will be lynched. But, if they go to live in the lands of our enemies and cannot defend themselves, well... No great loss, then, is it? Losing a few traitors in exchange for eliminating the entire House of Haleax and causing chaos in their capital is more than worth it.”\n\tAlex grunts, but quickly changes his attitude to appeal to the King and apologizes. “You're right, my Lord. I'm sorry to have spoken to you like that. But can't we discuss how we can better handle this? I mean, I was the one that came up with this plan and made the map. Nobody knows how to do this better than I do.”\n\tRakshahas falls into a chair. He shrugs. “It's done. The orders are given and my forces deployed. Sometime tonight, tomorrow at the latest, they will strike! Imagine it, Alexander!” He stands and refills his cup. “Their King murdered. His family and closest advisers, murdered. Chaos through their cities. Blood flowing in their streets.” He points. “And we engage their Prince in battle with a fire dragon on our side! The Harathi will crumble. If Prince Ronan doesn't beg for a truce and surrender to us, his armies will be broken by doubt and fear. We will roll them up like an old carpet.” He slams a fist down on the table. “And then, we kill every demon left in Varn Ra or E'hbel and anywhere else they scurry and hide. For good measure, we'll take our dragon to Aigua and burn their damned wall and kill their water dragon. No more demons. No free anthros. Cruiberg ruling over all. Cruiberg as gods on earth. And I shall be named as Rhys' successor.” He looks at Alex. “That's worth the life of every Cruiberg in Harath.”\n\tVisions flare through the boys mind as he moves closer to Raks. He see's into the mans childhood and how he had been born on the battlefields, how family members were killed by both demons and athro's alike and he fought his first battle at the age of eight. Raks has lived almost every day of his life by taking others or being part of someone's death. He see's the demon that had dug a spear into his eye and wounded Rakshahas so long ago and how now a chaotic flame is seized inside of him, ready to consume the world if it possibly could. But Alex knows that rage can also become a weakness.\n\t“Well then... Good luck to your men in Harath. May the King, his wife and subordinates die gruesomely and slowly.” Alex says calmly, slowly backing to the exit of the tent. “If that is all...”\n\t“Not quite.” He stares hard at Alex with his one good eye. “Before Rhys names me as the next High King, he will consult the other Kings. Use your influence with Markus and Jeremy. Get them to support me. Or at least, to not oppose me. You have both of them wrapped around your. . .ah. . .your finger. Do this and I will recognize you as Markus' heir when I am High King. You will be a Prince of the Cruiberg. And keep me informed of what Markus and Jeremy are thinking in regards to the next High King. I'm sure you have some pillow talk with them after they fuck you.”\n\tAs much as Alex wants to yell back at him and call him a foolish idiot, he retains the same look on his face and continues his lies. “Yes, my Lord. I'm... Glad you took upon my plan on the castle and plan to put it to good use. Any information that comes my way will come to you as well.” The boy bows, hoping he can exit now. 'Piece of shit thinks he could be better than Rhys' He thinks to himself. 'You'd be a disgrace to his sword and legacy.'\n\t“Good. Good.” He smiles at Alex. “I'm glad we understand each other. You may go, but keep this in mind, too.” He walks close to Alex, sipping his wine. He leans close, brushing a hand through Alex's hair. “Markus may be gone for several days. You may feel lonely at night. Normally, I don't fancy boys, but you've enraptured two of the five kings. I confess to being a little curious if you're as good a fuck as Jeremy says you are. Perhaps we can find out some night.” He smiles and moves to kiss Alex's neck.\n\t“We'll see.” He says with a sense of superiority. The boy trail out of the tent and towards Sargonne, who has been waiting for him with a worried face for quite some time. The spits and takes a cigarette from one of his men before whispering to the priest. I'm ready for this storm to come already. “Come along.” He says, leading the way for him back to where Markus slept. Once inside, the boy tells him everything that him and the King spoke of earlier on.\n\n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>The Battle for E&rsquo;hbel<br />By DamiJon<br />Chapter Seven<br /><br />Alex visits and debates what to do with Drew. Plans come into motion&hellip;<br /><br />\tAfter weighing on the decision for at least half an hour, Alex steps out of bed and dresses up in all black. He silently sneaks from out of the home and into the gauze of dreamy moonlight, where watch guards on duty do their routine walks. The boy quietly finds his way into the diner hall, where he snatches scraps of food to wrap in a cheesecloth before venturing to the cell. His hands twitches as he stands at the door and he prays that Raethum isn&#039;t on the other side. Slowly, he turns the knob, then locks himself inside before lighting the small torch at the entrance. Immediately, he&#039;s faced with the group of starving demons at the front. They beg for him to kill them and put them out of their misery, but he shuffles along and away from them until he reaches Drew&#039;s cell. Once there, he places the torch on a post and enters, finding Drew still tied to the X shaped board.<br />\tThe demon boy opens his eyes, squinting into the torch&#039;s light. He coughs wetly and spits onto the ground. &ldquo;Who. . .who&#039;s there? I know you&#039;re not Raethum.&rdquo; He coughs again. &ldquo;Another fucking Dark Mage come to the exhibition? To see the great experiment?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;No, just a wind mage.&rdquo; Alex answers. He stops in his tracks just as he&#039;s about to put the cloth down a table, but notices a collection of skulls sitting upon it. Alex uses the torch to light several other candles before he steps closer up to the demon. &ldquo;I&#039;ll let you lose from this if you promise not to escape or attack me.&rdquo; &#039;Not like he could anyway&#039; Alex thinks. &#039;His body has been stuck in this position all day. I can&#039;t imagine he could even stand on his own right now.&#039;<br />\t&ldquo;Yeah, whatever. I promise.&rdquo; He looks at Alex, &ldquo;You really aren&#039;t a Dark Mage are you?&rdquo; He shakes his head. &ldquo;I know this is some sort of trick...I know Raethum sent you to test me. It won&#039;t work.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Sure, if that&#039;s what you want to believe.&rdquo; Alex unties the tight rope bound to the boys wrists and quickly holds him up with all of his weight from having him fall over. Slowly, he helps him to the ground and then unties his feet. The boy leans him against the wall and retrieves Raethum&#039;s wineskin. &ldquo;Drink up. I brought you some food. Raw meat and fish. What&#039;s he been feeding you?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I don&#039;t know...I&#039;m so hungry I don&#039;t ask.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;Drew takes a sip of wine. He sighs and his body relaxes. &ldquo;Do you have water?&rdquo; He takes a fish. He looks at it, turning it over in his hands, his eyes misting up. &ldquo;You don&#039;t look like a Cruiberg.&rdquo; He takes a bite of the fish. His eyes flutter and close and he chews very slowly. He takes another small bite.<br />\t&ldquo;Well, I am.&rdquo; Alex responds, nagging him as he grabs a dusty glass of water. The boy sits across from the naked demon and examines the cuts and scars on his body. The ones from this morning are already mostly healed. &ldquo;What&#039;s your name?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Drew. What&#039;s yours?&rdquo; He chuckles, grimacing in pain. &ldquo;You&#039;re cleaner than most Cruiberg. And I&#039;m filthier than most demons.&rdquo; He takes another bite of fish.<br />\t&ldquo;I wouldn&#039;t blame you. It&#039;s nice to meet you, Drew.&rdquo; Alex extends a hand. My name is Alexander Yorem. &ldquo;I might be Cruiberg, but... I don&#039;t think it&#039;s right to hurt young people our age.&rdquo; He leans closer, judging the scar around his neck. &ldquo;That&#039;s a pretty brutal scar you have there. Mind if I ask how you got it?&rdquo;<br />\tThe demon boys shakes his head slowly. &ldquo;It&#039;s a long story. It ends with my husband leading me to be beheaded for murder.&rdquo; He nibbles his fish. &ldquo;Well, it ends with me being beheaded actually. Somehow, the gods brought me back.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Shit. So that&#039;s what they mean by you being some immortal boy.&rdquo; Alex spits. He finds Raethum&#039;s pipe and lights it, offering it to Drew. &ldquo;You know, I was once in that prison too and facing the same sentence, but I escaped because I knew I had more to live for. Not just revenge, but love as well...&rdquo; He sighs. &ldquo;So the Gods brought you back, huh? Ever wonder why? Maybe I could help you. I have a unique ability to see into people&#039;s souls.&rdquo;<br />\tDrew holds up a hand, refusing the pipe. &ldquo;Do you really want to help me? Can you help me escape?&rdquo; He leans forward, eager for Alex&#039;s answer. He leans back, his eyes widening. &ldquo;You were in the same prison in Harath?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;No, I can&#039;t help you escape. But I can try and help you as best as I can until I think of something that won&#039;t get us both killed by a sadistic cunt.&rdquo; Alex smokes and blows rings of smoke to his right. &ldquo;Yeah, I imagine so. The capitol&#039;s prison. My guard was hot as fuck too. Unfortunately, he just wanted me for the information I could give him. Thought he really liked me too. It&#039;s strange how I can see so many things all at once but my infatuation with certain people gets me carried away. That&#039;s how it was with Aldan... But I found someone else, someone way better now.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Aldan? Drew whispers the name. Did . . .did you say your guard was Aldan?&rdquo; He leans forward again, grabbing Alex&#039;s arm. &ldquo;When. . . when was this?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;A while back. I&#039;d say... Six to nine months ago?&rdquo; Alex mutters. He notices Drew grabbing his arm, but doesn&#039;t seem too alarmed.<br />\t&ldquo;How was he? Did he seem well?&rdquo; His eyes well up with tears.<br />\t&ldquo;Did he seem well? At the time, maybe. Now? Definitely not.&rdquo; Alex pauses. &ldquo;So you knew him... He&#039;s still alive; Aldan&#039;s a commander with his own unstoppable force now. In fact, his group is one of the highest threats to our victory. Thing is that rage can only empower you for so long before you self destruct.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Rage?&rdquo; Drew wipes his eyes. &ldquo;If what I&#039;ve heard is true, it&#039;s more than rage. Do you know what really happened? To his family. . .I heard about it second hand and read about it.&rdquo; He looks at Alex, biting his lip and wringing his hands. &ldquo;I&#039;ve hoped and prayed what I heard was wrong...Tell me what you know. What you truly know, Alex. Please.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex takes the wineskin and finishes it before tossing it at the wall. &ldquo;The dark mages had it out for Aldan after he had ruined their plans to destroy parts of Harath and cause the humans there to hate the demons, so they set out an assassination for him and his family. My King sent his own assassin to kill the dark mages by my request, but it wasn&#039;t enough. Only his two eldest children are alive now.&rdquo; He pauses, undecided on whether or not to go into detail. &ldquo;What were you to him? More than his guard, I reckon. Wait! You must be the one he married... The demon boy that wrecked his heart.&rdquo;<br />\tDrew draws his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. He drops his head onto his arms and cries. Between sobs, he speaks softly. &ldquo;You bastards. You&#039;re all bastards. You use children in your war because you&#039;re too weak and cowardly to do your own dirty work. You tried to use me. Then Lev. And when you&#039;re stopped, you kill a pregnant woman and two young children. Raethum isn&#039;t the worst of you. He&#039;s not even and exception. How many kids have you killed?&rdquo; He looks up at Alex, glaring at him. &ldquo;We married, yes. I didn&#039;t wreck his heart. You&#039;re lying about that. We loved each other.&rdquo; He wipes his face. &ldquo;I don&#039;t know what you&#039;re doing...don&#039;t know if I can trust you. If what you say is true, that you and your king tried to save Katie, I&#039;m grateful. Keep your King away from Aldan if you can.&rdquo; He looks away. &ldquo;Aldan is the best man I&#039;ve ever known. And you people killed his wife and babies. It will take a lot of blood to quench that fire...&rdquo; He looks at Alex &ldquo;What do you want from me? Why feed me? Why treat me with kindness?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Empathy, maybe? I know what&#039;s it&rsquo;s like to be tortured in a cell and I know what it&#039;s like to be dead, too.&rdquo; The boy lights the pipe again and blows smoke out of his nostrils. &ldquo;Look. I don&#039;t fear or dislike demons or anthros. It&#039;s Harath that I&#039;m focused on destroying. Whether you like me or not doesn&#039;t matter, because I&#039;m still going to come back here every night and do whatever I can. Maybe I could make some medicines to help with your wounds or so you&#039;re not in as much constant pain.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Why do you hate Harath so? You seem more like a Harathi than a Cruiberg.&rdquo; Drew sniffles and wipes his face. He takes a long drink of water. &ldquo;You don&#039;t fear or hate us, but you&#039;re a part of the army that&#039;s trying to exterminate us...I don&#039;t understand that.&rdquo; He looks at Alex and reaches out a hand to him. &ldquo;Take my hand.&rdquo; When Alex takes his hand, Drew holds his hand tightly. &ldquo;Whatever help you give me, you have to be sure Raethum doesn&#039;t find out. Clean water and fresh food. Medicine would help, too. You said you know what it&#039;s like to be dead. How did it happen to you? Is that why you hate Harath?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Partly.&rdquo; Alex replies, dawning the cheesecloth into his pocket and cleaning up after himself. &ldquo;The King and his family abused and betrayed me, along with my own family. It&#039;s a long story... So yes, I was once Harathi, but never again. Maybe at some point you could be one with us too, but I doubt it.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Me be a Cruiberg?&rdquo; Drew looks back at his rack. &ldquo;The only way I&#039;ll ever be a Cruiberg is if Raethum takes my skin after he kills me with his insane experiments and makes a suit out of me.&rdquo; The demon boy leans forward, stretching the muscles in his back. Alex can hear the boy&#039;s bones popping. &ldquo;I&#039;m sorry King Haelax and his family mistreated you. Doesn&#039;t matter if it&#039;s a long story. I want to hear it. A little bit each night while we talk and eat. You tell me yours and I&#039;ll tell you mine.&rdquo; Drew grins and laughs a little bit. His eyes grow somber almost immediately. &ldquo;You said Aldan might be close. If he is...can you get a message to him somehow? With your magic? You said he was hot. . .Did you two have feelings for each other?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I had feelings for him, but he didn&#039;t for me. The magic doesn&#039;t work like that.&rdquo; Alex walks over to a bucket for waste and pisses into it before heading back to the demon boy. &ldquo;Basically, I come in contact with you and can see everything you&#039;ve gone through along with visions of your future. Sometimes it&#039;s blurred and other times it&#039;s clear.&rdquo; His eyes notice Drew&#039;s cock. He fidgets and blushes, immediately turning himself to the side. &ldquo;Uhm, I could try reading you if you&#039;d like.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;My future&#039;s pretty easy to see. More days on the rack. Endless pain and torment until I die. I guess I should be grateful Raethum doesn&#039;t rape me.&rdquo; Drew leans back, laying flat on his back, stretching his arms over his head. &ldquo;You have no idea how good it feels to be able to stretch! Well, maybe you do.&rdquo; He looks at Alex. &ldquo;What did you do to end up in Aldan&#039;s prison?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Killed my brother out of jealousy and revenge. He was always treated better than me and was meant to become a high nobleman and commander for the King.&rdquo; Alex spits and continues smoking. &ldquo;I&#039;m sure he didn&#039;t deserve death no matter how much of a horrible brother he was to me, but I couldn&#039;t stop the rage building inside of me. My family and the King had set it all up..&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Fratricide. That would do it.&rdquo; Drew lays on his back, relaxing. &ldquo;I wish I could take a bath. That&#039;s one thing I never got to do with Aldan. One of many things we never got to do.&rdquo; He raises up to rest on one side. &ldquo;Do you want to read me?&rdquo;<br />\tAlex nods. &ldquo;Please.&rdquo; He ashes out the pipe and sets it between the two skulls on the table where he had originally found it. The boy moves up closer, taking both of Drew&#039;s hands into his own. The demon is scolding to the touch, but it doesn&#039;t burn or affect him. The essence of fire and light that it brings floods Alexander&#039;s mind like rays of lightning. All of Drew&#039;s life threads out to him, including memories that not even the demon remembers having. He consumes all of it in a matter of a minute before being breached with a void so silken and black that it seems to pierce into his heart. Alex flinches and bites his lip as the pain slowly subsides. &ldquo;Gods... I never knew I could see things like this.&rdquo;<br />\tBehind the wind mages eyes, the boy finds himself standing as a shadow in a spherical room made of glass in a cemetery of collapsing nebulas and dying stars. &ldquo;I see the Lord of Light, Luca, and three successors with him. Lady Salune and Corus are there as well.&rdquo; Alex walks over to an open sarcophagus, where Drew&#039;s lifeless body rests. The demon boys mother stands above him and touches the boy before disintegrating into dust. The Gods speak to one another while two young girls approach the coffin. The first lady heals the grave wound the separates Drew&#039;s head from his neck before the other girl fills the casket with a jar of fluorescent water. &ldquo;Your mother was forced to sacrifice her eternal life in order for the ritual to fully commence. I&#039;m sorry, but you&#039;ll never see her again, neither here or after...&rdquo;<br />\tFlames rapture through Alex&#039;s visions. He see&#039;s a dragon, nearly thirteen feet tall, breathing fire upon Cruiberg&#039;s. Then he see&#039;s Aldan caressing Drew in bed. &ldquo;You&#039;ll be reunited again. And he will bathe you too.&rdquo; Alex opens his eyes and lets go. &ldquo;That I can promise.&rdquo;<br />\tDrew is silent for several minutes. He weeps quietly, wiping the tears away. &ldquo;My mother... I killed her. Accidentally, when your Dark Mages started trying to control me. I didn&#039;t mean to, I didn&#039;t even know what I was doing. Didn&#039;t know what I was capable of. I just lost my temper and. . . And she sacrificed eternity for me.&rdquo; Drew holds his face in his hands and cries. &ldquo;If you. . .if you saw me with Aldan, did you see when that will happen? Does he rescue me?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Well, he must have. Maybe I can see more some other day.&rdquo; Alex stands up and grabs the rope. &ldquo;Sorry, but I have to tie you up.&rdquo; He begins tightening Drew&#039;s hands while speaking. &ldquo;Tomorrow, I promise to be of use. But I must go.&rdquo;<br />\tDrew stands and moves back against his &#039;bed&#039;. He doesn&#039;t resist as Alex reties him. &ldquo;I know you have to tie me up. Raethum would go berserk again if he knew you let me down, even for just an hour.&rdquo; He sighs. Thank you for the food and the company. &ldquo;I&#039;ll see you tomorrow, Alex. I&#039;ll be here.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I&#039;m sorry, again, even though it doesn&#039;t mean much. Goodnight.&rdquo; Alex turns away. He takes the torch with him and lets out the fire before exiting the cell. One of the soldiers on night duty almost notices him, but Alex is quick to hide behind a fence post before quietly rushing back to his quarters. Once back home and in his room, he strips nude again and carefully positions himself back in bed. The boy lifts up the sheets and stares at the two cocks between him, grinning wildly before cuddling with his lover and falling asleep.<br /><br /><br />\tLater into the morning, the dark mage Raethum awakens in bed with his favorite boy to play with, Varon. The young one sits up nude, holding a wooden tray with breakfast and coffee on it as the older man rubs the gunk out of his eyes.<br />\t&ldquo;How kind of you. I thought you&#039;d be asleep much longer after all of the fun we shared.&rdquo; Raethum smirks. He runs his fingers along the bruises on Varon&#039;s arms, chest and back. They&#039;re fresh from whips and flogging tools. Varon shivers and his erection grows under the tray. The mage feels underneath and rubs at the swollen head as he sips from his coffee. &ldquo;You&#039;re hard already. I might have to take care of that before we can even eat.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Are you sure?&rdquo; Varon asks and moans. &ldquo;Oh Gods... Please. Raethum!!!&rdquo;<br />\tThe master of darkness takes the tray with one hand and places it on the night stand. He pulls the sheets off of the bed and delves his head down into Varon&#039;s crotch, sucking him fast and hard.<br />\tAfter their breakfast and early festivities, Raethum dresses in a thick brown and hooded cloak with nothing underneath. He treads his way to the prison, pissing through the cell onto the prisoners at the entrance and then lights his torches and candles, which brighten the oppressive rooms. It wreaks of days old shit and piss and the staunch of blood and rotting death is just as extreme. He takes a dagger in one hand, keys and medicine in the other, then wanders to the main cell to drug up the group of demons that are as skeletal and fragile as a stick. Afterwards, he tosses their own bucket of feces right back at them and closes their door to be with his most favorite toy of all.<br />\t&ldquo;You&#039;re awake. Good!&rdquo; He opens the boys mouth and pours the rest of the vile down. Raethum looks down, noticing how parts of Drew&#039;s body below his chest are either scaled or glowing red. The demon cringes in constant pain and torment as his body reacts to the medicine and potions that are constantly used on him. &ldquo;Beautiful. I&#039;m hoping that we can complete your transformation today. I have good faith in you too, Drew. You&#039;ll be a good boy and not die on me, will you?&rdquo; He walks back over to his table and examines his tools. His hand moves towards a potion bottle, which he mixes with the ashes of dragon bone and a poison that counteracts with it to help speed up the process of his transformation. Raethum pours it down Drew&#039;s throat, kisses him afterwards and then lifts off his cloak. He turns away to grab the mask he had made long ago out of a goat skull, attaches it to his face, then he begins to gently trace along the boys chest as it spasms and chaotically reacts to the medicine.<br />\t&ldquo;Stop it! Please, Luca, Lord of Demons, bring me out of this madness! Take me, kill me! MOTHER!!!&rdquo; Drew screams as his entire body spasms. New bones are formed while others collapse and others grow in size. His internal systems and muscles do much of the same, while his blood takes a different form.<br />\t&ldquo;Haha! Hahahaha! So beautiful! If only you could see yourself!&rdquo; Raethum steps back. He begins masturbating himself as he watches Drew&#039;s body take on a new shape. While the demon boy screams and tries to break free, Raethum coats his dagger with potion mixture and laughs at his idea. The older man stands side by side to Drew, holding and stroking the horned one&#039;s flaccid penis as the tip of the knife forms circles around his chest. &ldquo;I want you to enjoy this too, Drew. This is going to be a big accomplishment for you. Perhaps this is why the Gods brought you back. They wanted you to be here with me. So that we can be one.&rdquo; Raethum chants a mystical spell over the knife, assuring himself protection and complete control over Drew. &ldquo;Yes... You&#039;re going to be my dragon now. You&#039;re too weak to fight me now. Ah, you&#039;re even transforming in my hands! Look down at it.&rdquo; He licks his lips. &ldquo;You&#039;ll kill the water dragon of Aigua for me. Crush their kingdom and bring me their Kings crown. I&#039;ll fly with you as you kill every last demon in E&#039;hbel. Oh, how sweet and ironic it will be that a demon will be the one that ruins them! Come, Drew! Come for me.&rdquo;<br />\tThe knife protrudes into Drew&#039;s stomach and the demons final stage of metamorphosis occurs. The wood he&#039;s bound to snaps with splinters springing out in all directions. Raethum quickly rushes back, knowing fully well that the prison he&#039;s made for him and the other demons will soon collapse. Thinking as quickly as he possibly can, the dark mage uses his enchantment spell on Drew to command him forth; a chain of light appears in the mages hand, which is bound to Drew as he&#039;s dragged out of the prison. Raethum pants, sweats, grits his teeth in pain as he uses all of his strength to drag the demon out of the room. Once outside, he takes cautious steps back and watches as the boy changes with the magical chain increasing in size around his neck. Soldiers gather and watch, immediately dropping the tasks at hand to observe the spectacle occurring in front of them. <br />\tSome soldiers move closer for a better look, their hands dropping instinctually to their weapons. Other&#039;s move away, uncomfortable with such magic. All of them are breathless, their eyes fixed on the spectacle taking place before them.<br />\tKing Marus, Sir Alexander, and Sargonne are sitting, having breakfast and going over their proposed route for Markus and his personal guards to rejoin his army and meet the Harathi. The three are going over a listing of supplies when one of his men bursts into the room.<br />\t&ldquo;My King! Raethum is doing something with one of the demons. It&#039;s . . .&rdquo; The man shakes his head, pointing outside. &ldquo;It&#039;s . . . You must see it for yourself, Sire.&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus rises and moves to the door, calmly. Alex and Sargonne can see urgency in his eyes, but he moves carefully. His squire gives him his sword and bows as the king and his friends exit their house.<br />\tThey hear screams of pain first. Alex pales as he recognizes the voice. Drew. The demon boy he befriended in the dark of night. Thoughts run through Alex&#039;s mind. Did Raethum discover his visit? Are Drew&#039;s screams the result of Alex&#039;s visit. He resists the urge to run ahead. Alex stays by his king, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.<br />\tThey move through the village-camp, pushing through groups of soldiers stand agape at what&#039;s happening. They stop as one. Alex gasps out loud, bringing his knuckle to his mouth and biting down when he almost says Drew&#039;s name.<br />\tThe demon boy is on the ground, writhing and twisting as he cries out in pain. A chain is wrapped around his neck, glowing with a malevolent blue light. But he doesn&#039;t look like a demon boy.<br />\tHis legs have lengthened and thickened, bending at odd places in odd angles. His whole body is shifting, changing. Bones break through his skin at his shoulder blades. They lengthen and grow muscle, sinew and leathery flesh, transforming into small wings. His chest deepens and expands, the cracking of his ribs audible beneath his cries of pain and Raethum&#039;s chanting.<br />\tDrew&#039;s skin is gone, replaces by a mixture of tough looking hide and scales. Scales the shimmer and grow with every breath Drew takes, with every convulsion of pain. Along his stomach and chest, the skin and scales glow with the light of a fire. Not reflecting an outside fire, but revealing an internal fire. His scales undulate like fire on top of water.<br />\tHis hands, now paws ending with sharp, black talons, dig at the ground, churning great furrows into the hard packed dirt. His face twists and lengthens, a toothy maw and muzzle growing where once there was the face of a young teenager. The cry of pain becomes a roar. And as his mouth opens to roar in agony again, some men cover their ears. Alex and Markus and Sargonne do not. And they see deep within Drew&#039;s throat the glow of fire. The spark of dragon-fire.<br />\tDrew&#039;s eyes open, huge and bright. Fire glows within those eyes. Fire and pain. They cast about in pain and confusion, tears running down scaled and leathery cheeks.<br />\tWhat was a demon boy, slim and slight, is now a dragon. Perhaps fifteen feet from tail to snout, maybe longer. Thicker bodied. Covered with scales over a thick hide. Deep reddish and brown in color, the creature, lies on its side, gasping for air. Only the horns seem the same. Larger, longer and thick, they are the same striating pattern of the demon boy&#039;s horns.<br />\tThe creature stands on unsteady limbs. Its long neck turns its giant head this way and that. There&#039;s a flash of recognition as it sees Alex. The beast frowns, its pain-addled brain trying to remember why that face brings hope. But then it notices Raethum. \tThe Dark Mage stands, leaning heavily on his staff. Sweat drips from his face. His face is beaming with delight and triumph. He cries out, pointing at the creature. &ldquo;I&#039;VE DONE IT! Raethum, Dark Magister and Maestro of the Dark Orders, has done what could not be done! I have created a dragon! Loyal to me! Loyal to Cruiberg! I HAVE DONE IT!!!&rdquo;<br />\tSome men cheer. The dragon creatures draws its head back. Its looks at Raethum, its head leaning to one side for a moment, then leaning to the other side. Suddenly, the beasts eyes narrow. It draws in a deep, long breath, pulling its head back almost as a snake preparing to strike. Its chest begins to glow red, a red so hot the air around the creature shimmers.<br />\t&ldquo;Get the fuck out of its way!&rdquo; Alex shouts. Some of the men seem not to care or understand, but the majority of them quickly pick up on what&#039;s wrong. They scatter, roll and sprint out. The fire emanating from Drew is intimidating and scorching with extreme heat. It seems that the fire at the center of the dragons mouth is white and the bolt festering inside of it is spiraling at a hypersonic speed.<br />\tRaethum turns his front back to Drew, but shows no fear to him. He finds the dagger again, points it at the dragon and begins chanting again. The enchantment immediately thrusts Drew&#039;s head back and has him choke on the flame in his mouth, causing him to let out a painful, harrowing cry that every man and woman can feel in the camp throughout their entire bodies. The dark mage continues repeating prayers and spells all the while of walking towards the beast, which falls down with a heavy fall to the grass. \tAlex notices the tears spilling from the large emerald eyes. He almost grabs at his lovers hand, but feels that it would be a noteworthy decision that would mark him as wing to the two standing beside him. Instead, he forces himself to watch as Raethum caresses the nose of the beast. Drew shuts his eyes and his body begins to shift once again, but this time back in his demon form. The two kings look away and hold their hands to their ears as the sound of the boys body changing into a different form haunts their minds, but the squire refuses to do so. Instead, he eyes Raethum with hatred and disgust.<br />\t&ldquo;You must be tired, Drew.&rdquo; Raethum says as he rubs his hand over the demons chest. &ldquo;I&#039;ll let you rest. Tomorrow, we begin digging into that brain of yours. For all we know it could end up being just as painful as this.&rdquo; He speaks to him like as if he were a baby. The dark mage lifts him up with both hands, groaning uncomfortably and tiredly as he walks back to the prison with Drew in his arms. I&#039;m proud of you. &ldquo;Because of this I&#039;ll even feed your friends real food.&rdquo; He looks at the group of prisoners holding onto the cell doors as he enters. Raethum kicks at it and laughs. &ldquo;After I piss on it, of course.&rdquo; Raethum carefully places Drew back down on the floor. The chain he formed for him vanishes. There&#039;s no need to bound him. The dark mage knows all too well that the boy will be too weak from the potions and his forced transformation to even stand for the next few days.<br />\tWhen Raethum takes the boy away, Markus folds his arms over his chest. He looks down at the ground. Slowly, he turns towards Alex and Sargonne. The priest&#039;s eyes are wide and he still whispers prayers into the air as he watches his king. Markus looks at Alex. He can read Alex&#039;s unease. &ldquo;Walk with me. Both of you.&rdquo;<br />\tHe walks slowly out of the camp, into the woods surrounding their encampment. He stops at a small stand of stumps. Trees that were felled when the Cruiberg took the village, to provide wood for repairs and construction. The Fire King sits on one stump. &ldquo;Well, he begins it seems as if Raethum has succeeded.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;No. He hasn&#039;t.&rdquo; Alex corrects him. &ldquo;The demon can very well become a dragon, but it was just about to kill every last one of us in the matter of seconds. Raethum says we can train it or have join our side. No chance in hell.&rdquo; He flaunts, resting his back against a tree. &ldquo;I&#039;ve had my vision of the dark mage already. We shouldn&#039;t trust him. He will take us down the same path as the previous maestro did.&rdquo;<br />\tSargonne sits on a stump between the King and Alex. He shakes his head, taking a drink from his wineskin and offering it to the others. &ldquo;I am astonished, Sire. I&#039;ve seen magic do great things. Transforming a demon into a dragon? It beggars belief. I don&#039;t know what to think about.&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus takes a drink, passing the skin on to Alex. &ldquo;This certainly changes things. If you&#039;re right, Alex, and he can&#039;t control the Drew-dragon, it endangers us all and the war effort. If he can control it. . .&rdquo; He shakes his head. &ldquo;That gives Raethum a card in our games that cannot be beat. Dark Mages crave power. With such a weapon, he is a threat to each of the Five Kings. We have to keep that in mind.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex thinks deeply of his thoughts, but decides to spill them out even though he fears them. &ldquo;I believe the demon should die. He&#039;s too great of a weapon.&rdquo; What he says to partly true to his viewpoint, but he also wants Drew to be done with the suffering he&#039;s put through. &ldquo;But of course, if Raethum can truly work his magic, then he would be our strongest weapon. I mean... If he can make him into a dragon then why can&#039;t he talk him into being on our side?&rdquo;<br />\tSargonne nods. &ldquo;He&#039;s right. He&#039;s too great a threat. What if Raethum gets the dragon to obey him? He might decide Rakshahas should be the High King. The only King. Or that he should be the only King himself. I&#039;m not so sure he can control the . . .creature. That depends a great deal on the strength of the demon&#039;s own mind.&rdquo; He shakes his head. &ldquo;I don&#039;t think we can afford to the risk. I agree with Alexander.&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus picks up a stray branch. He peels the leaves from the branch as he listens, then taps the stick against the toes of his boots. He&#039;s quiet for a time. &ldquo;You both make important points. But, how does one kill a dragon? I think we&#039;d have to kill the demon boy which means we&#039;d have to do so very soon. Ideas on how to accomplish the death of the demon boy?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;We could poison him by chance. Although Raethum might detect something like that if he conducts and autopsy. He most certainly would, since he loves to use parts of demons bodies.&rdquo; Alex says, thinking deeply. &ldquo;We could stage a suicide for him too.&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus stands. &ldquo;I know what needs to be done. I shall see to it. You two don&#039;t need to know more than that. For your own safety and peace of mind.&rdquo;<br />\tSargonne stands and joins Markus as the King begins to head back to the encampment. &ldquo;You know my loyalty is yours, Sire. If I can be of service, just tell me what I must do.&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus takes Alex&#039;s hand, pulling the boy close. &ldquo;I wish we could walk in the woods without these matters oppressing us. And I&#039;m sorry for what I have to say next.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex nods, rubbing his forehead into Markus&#039;s chest. A deep sadness floods him; he knows where his loyalty lies and also what must be done for the poor demon. &ldquo;Go ahead. Tell me.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;You and Sargonne will stay here when I move out with my army. I want you two to keep an eye on Raethum. On Rakshahas. On the demon boy. I&#039;ll leave couriers so that you can contact me if the situation changes. If Raethum gains control of the creature, if it escapes. Anything of note.&rdquo; He sighs. &ldquo;If I were to cancel our planned attack and stay myself, certainly they would become suspicious. So, the attack must go on and I must lead it. You two must remain behind and be my eyes and ears.&rdquo; <br />\tHe stops and turns Alex to face him. &ldquo;But I don&#039;t want you to do anything foolish or dangerous. Just observe and keep me informed of changes. Understood?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yes, my King. Nothing foolish or dangerous.&rdquo; Alex shrugs, turning his face away. &ldquo;I know you don&#039;t really have a choice but to move out, but I&#039;d rather be by your side than here. You know that I&#039;d be safer. Rhys doesn&#039;t understand. It doesn&#039;t have to do about being tested anymore.&rdquo; He raises his voice for a moment. &ldquo;How long am I to stay here then? If you&#039;re going to fight Deklen as planned the battle could take weeks to accomplish.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;No, I won&#039;t be gone that long. This battle is against one of Deklen&#039;s subordinates. The fellow who moves his force every other day. He&#039;s only got three thousands under him. It&#039;s two days for us to get into position. One day to battle. Two days for me to return. Add in one day for something unexpected. I&#039;ll leave tomorrow morning and should be back in six days.&rdquo; He looks at Alex. &ldquo;Don&#039;t turn away from me. We won&#039;t engage Deklen unless it&#039;s Rakshahas&#039; army and my own together. No, this is as much to get action for my men as anything. Perhaps we can capture some prisoners who may provide intelligence.&rdquo; He smirks. &ldquo;At least with Raethum transforming the boy, maybe Rakshahas will get off his ass and we can go out and engage Deklen. I&#039;ve hated having to sit and wait. But Raks insisted. He wants to take the demon-dragon into battle. I think he wants to ride him, like a horse.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex almost laughs and spits. &ldquo;The dragon would chomp his head right off if he even tried. We&#039;ll see what Raethum can come up with.&rdquo; The boy responds. &ldquo;The two of them begin walking back towards the camp, which has quieted down now since the morning fiasco. Everyone seems to be back to their usual duties, although they seem a little bit intimidated.&rdquo;<br />\tOnce they&#039;ve returned to camp, Markus and Sargonne resume their planning for the King&#039;s expedition. Alexander joins them as do a pair of other officers from Markus&#039; force. They soon have the details of their departure solidified along with the requirements for each soldier&#039;s food and water, and other supplies. They enjoy a light lunch together before breaking for other duties.<br />\tSargonne works at preparing first aid supplies for the physiker&#039;s wagon. The sergeants inform the men and women what they&#039;re expected to pack and carry and arrange for carts and wagons for other supplies. Markus lingers behind with Alex.<br />\t&ldquo;Weapons practice, Alex? Archery?&rdquo; Markus moves next to Alex, standing close to him in front of the fireplace in their great room. He takes Alex&#039;s hands in his own, leaning down to brush his lips along Alex&#039;s neck.<br />\t&ldquo;Sure. It feels like forever since I&#039;ve used my bow, although I&#039;m sure it&#039;s only been a few days to a week.&rdquo; He giggles through his ticklish nature. Alex lands a kiss on his Kings lips before rushing to grab his equipment. The bow hangs from the side of his back with a few dozen arrows in the quiver. Before they leave the two of them have a prolonged moment with one another of tongue kissing, cock groping and massaging one anothers chest.<br />\t&ldquo;Gods, it curdles my stomach to leave you again. You&#039;ve only just returned and now we have to part.&rdquo; Markus sighs as the pair walks slowly to the makeshift archery range. &ldquo;It can&#039;t be helped. I argued for a cohesive strategy for the war, to no avail obviously. High King Rhys was inclined to agree with me, I think. But Rakshahas and the brothers didn&#039;t want to be bound by a master plan. Which means they didn&#039;t want to be bound by my plan.&rdquo; He sighs.<br />\tThe makeshift range is a popular training area. Men and women practice with bow and arrow or javelins. A few use small throwing daggers. People stand aside, ready to allow Alex and Markus to practice right away, but the King insists that the pair wait their turn like everyone else. When it&#039;s their turn, Markus takes a half dozen javelin throws before making shots with his bow. One of his soldiers, a woman with her blonde hair tied back and a red scar along one cheek offers the King advice with his javelin technique, which he accepts. He pauses to watch Alex loose his arrows.<br />\t&ldquo;No way could I use one of those long sticks.&rdquo; Alex says, aiming for the target at hand. Two of them almost make a bullseye, while the others hit a bit off, but still on the target. He steps back, frustrated with his performance and tries to relax again. Upon his second turn he chooses to focus on the way the wind blows, which calms his senses and makes everything seem so natural and at ease to him. The boy fires three on the bullseye this time with the rest almost hitting it. &ldquo;If I&#039;m a wind mage I should probably listen to my senses more often. Maybe I&#039;d be even better if I had someone train me with the powers in my blood.&rdquo; He frowns at Markus, who holds one of the javelins.<br />\tMarkus shrugs at Alex. &ldquo;What? Why are you frowning at me?&rdquo; He hurls his last javelin at the target. &ldquo;We don&#039;t have many wind mages in Cruiberg. The Dark Mages tend to keep them away. Once the war is over, we can try to find one to teach you.&rdquo; \t&ldquo;Yeah, sure...&rdquo; He shrugs. &ldquo;I just don&#039;t want my skills to be limited.&rdquo; Alex takes one of the long spears and does his best to hit the target, but is not only way off but ends up hitting someone else&#039;s target! The boy bursts out into laughter. &ldquo;Well, there&#039;s something I need to work on!&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus smiles. &ldquo;At least you hit something. Once we&#039;ve conquered Harath, it should be a simple thing to find an ambitious Wind Mage to tutor you.&rdquo; Markus looks up, judging the time by the sun&#039;s position. &ldquo;If you&#039;re done, I believe we need to choose your cohort. Ten men and women, who will serve as your personal body guards and the nucleus for your personal army.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Of course. If I can I&#039;d like to have the same as I previously did. They&#039;re quite trustworthy.&rdquo; Alex judges every name off of the top of his head and tries to decide which ones would work best. Both of them work on a list once they make it back to their home, which takes a near thirty minutes for them to decide. Alex also offers his own tips and ideas for Markus for their battle in hope that it will help them.<br />\tBefore dinner, Markus has the ten that Alex has chosen brought to the same small clearing where Markus, Alex, and Sargonne had conferred after witnessing the dragon.<br />\t&ldquo;The ten of you have been chosen to form Alexander&#039;s first household guard. I&#039;ve elevated him as one of my Huscarls. You&#039;ll serve him with the same loyalty and courage that you&#039;ve shown me. I remain your King, of course, but Alex is your Lord now.&rdquo; Markus pauses for a moment, letting the weight of his words sink in. &ldquo;Alex, would you like to say something before oaths are taken?&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus moves to the side, sitting on a tree stump. Sargonne stands by, observing without comment. The men and women give their attention to the teen.<br />\tAlex clears his throat before speaking up. &ldquo;Even though you won&#039;t be going to battle with Markus, let I remind you of the constant threat lurking around us and with its possibility to attack at any given point. Surely we&#039;d win, but this is no lounge home or vacation. We&#039;re still at war. Anything can happen, so be prepared at any second. We must continue keeping our headquarters safe just as Markus will do his part as well.&rdquo; He looks to Sargonne, hoping his words were good enough.<br />\tSargonne nods his approval and steps next to Alex. &ldquo;If I may?&rdquo; Alex nods and the older priest looks to the collected soldiers.<br />\t&ldquo;King Markus and Sir Alexander chose you ten. It isn&#039;t a whim. It&#039;s a testament to your bravery and skill. You will be serving a brave and courageous huscarl. But he is young and doesn&#039;t know all of our ways. That means he will have to rely on your brains as well as your sword arms.&rdquo; He walks among the soldiers, patting their shoulders, looking them in the eye. &ldquo;We&#039;ve seen him fight. I think he&#039;s worthy of serving. I think he&#039;ll bring glory to our names and victory to Cruiberg. But it&#039;s up to you to choose if you shall take the Blood Oath and bind yourself to Alexander.&rdquo; He moves back, standing with Alex.<br />\tOne of the soldiers stands. A woman, tall and lithe, her head shaven except for a long, brown pony tail, wearing a chain vest over leathers. She bows slightly towards Markus, who tilts his head in reply, and then she looks at Alex. &ldquo;Sir Alex, will there be plunder? Silver and gold? Will we be allowed to capture slaves for ourselves?&rdquo;<br />\tAlex smirks. &ldquo;In here? I&#039;m not so sure. We might not be here for too much longer. But slaves that you do have or earn along the way should be treated respectively. If I witness any extreme maltreatment, especially molestation or rape, the person will be dealt with accordingly.&rdquo;<br />\tSoldiers murmur among themselves. An older man, his gray beard knotted in two braids with silver clasps weaved in his whiskers, stands. &ldquo;It don&#039;t sit right, swearing to a Harath...but...lad&#039;s fought bravely, did his best to save Florence, And he ain&#039;t a Harath no more. He&#039;s Cruiberg. A Yorem, same as our King.&rdquo; He looks at Alex. &ldquo;I&#039;ll swear the oath. The man steps forward, offering his right hand to Sargonne.&rdquo;<br />\tSargonne takes his dagger. He holds the blade toward the sky and utters a short prayer. &ldquo;Before King and Gods. Before Blood King Markus and Emerak the Bold, by their blood, we bind in service Jurri Graybeard to Alexander Yorem. Jurri as hirdman, Alexander as lord.&rdquo; He draws the blade across Yurri&#039;s palm, then looks to Alex. Without pause, Alex offers his hand and Sargonne draws the blade across his palm.<br />\t&ldquo;I will serve and obey, Alexander as my lord. Even if I should die in the doing.&rdquo; Yurri clasps his bloody hand with Alex&#039;s bloody hand.<br />\tMarkus nods his head and let&#039;s a sly smile creep onto his face as the other soldiers line up behind Yurri to swear their oaths to Alex. By the last man, Markus&#039; chest has swollen and he smiles broadly.<br />\tAlex swears his part of the oath. &ldquo;I shall serve each of you by leading you with courage and honor. I will not spend your lives carelessly or thoughtlessly. I will care for your family if you should die in my service. We shall, together, bring glory and victory to Cruiberg in the name of OUR King, the Blood King Markus!&rdquo;<br />\tThe men cheer. Markus hugs Alex tightly and they head back to the camp for dinner. &ldquo;Always remember these ten, Alex. They&#039;re the first. Treat them well and their families will serve you for decades. Treat them poorly and no man will swear to you again.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I will. In fact... I&#039;ll start now, if I may.&rdquo; Alex kisses Markus on the cheek before heading off to get his tray of food for the night. Instead of eating with the High King Rakshahas and other nobles, he decides to eat with the soldiers he&#039;s now bound his oath with. He jokes with them and discusses their private lives, along with their family or life in Cruiberg to better know who they are. By the end of his meal he feels that he has a good enough idea of what kind of soldiers they will be for him.<br />\tAlex chooses to stay with them after their hearing through each and every ones lengthy discussions. Instead of barging into the tent where the King&#039;s eat he decides to wait for them to finish speaking, feeling that it would be offensive to interrupt in the middle of a discussion. At some point he see&#039;s Raethum heading from out of the prison and joining Varon for dinner. The dark mage seems much more withdrawn than usual.<br />\tMarkus and Rakshahas discuss the pending split of their forces as they eat. Markus makes a number of suggestions for reallocating sentries and scouts with the reduced forces, but Rakshahas seems indifferent. He does offer a toast to Markus and his men, hoping for their victory over the Harathi forces in the coming days.<br />\tAlex&#039;s hird, or bodyguard, are pleased that he eats with them. After a few beers, they loosen up, speaking hopefully about their new lord. The meal is enjoyable for their company and comraderie. When dinner is finished, some of the men break into card or dice games. Alex plays a round of dice, but excuses himself when he sees Markus preparing to leave the mess tent. His soldiers grin and wink.<br />\tMarkus angles for Alex, speaking to one of the quartermasters for a moment before joining his boy. &ldquo;How was your dinner? You seemed to be enjoying yourself.&rdquo; The king smiles. &ldquo;We missed you at the head table, I must admit.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;It was decent, but I don&#039;t mind. Eating with the others provided me some insight into what they&#039;re like and how I can command them if need be. I think we should have our own time now though, just you and me.... Nobody else.&rdquo; Alex says, licking hips and raising his brows. They walk to their home and Alex sits down to pull off his boots. &ldquo;I&#039;m going to clean up a bit first, okay?&rdquo; He waits for Markus to nod before standing, in which they meet with a long kiss. The boy has his mouth open in awe as he walks away and to the bathroom.<br />\tInside of the baths, he &#039;prepares&#039; himself for the festivities just in case, washes himself quickly in the bathtub, dries off and slips into a fuzzy brown bathrobe before trailing into the bedroom. His erection grows quite quickly inside of it, easily noticeable against the thin fabric. &ldquo;Better now.&rdquo; He wags his head like a dog, shaking water out of long brown hair.<br />\tMarkus is laying atop their bed, a towel draped over his hips and groin. He rests with his eyes closed, his hands clasped together behind his head. His chest rises and falls easily. His smooth skin entices Alex.<br />\tWhen Alex shakes his hair, water drops land on Markus. His eyes spring open and he smiles at his lover. That&#039;s cold! He chuckles and reaches out to Alex, pulling the boy close when he takes his hand. Pressing his lips to Alex&#039;s, the pair kiss deeply. The King&#039;s hand drifts down, caressing Alex&#039;s tummy and brushing lightly over his pubis. &ldquo;Well, how shall we say good-bye tonight?&rdquo; He leans back, pulling Alex on top of him. His arms reach around to embrace the boy.<br />\t&ldquo;I think you know how.&rdquo; Alex says. He eases the drawstring on his robe, letting the head of his erection poke out as he does so, then revealing it in all of its entirety. Markus helps him strip out of it and toss it to the side, leaving him completely naked. When he sits down upon his King he feels the mans prick grind against his ass. Alex sits up again, lunching his cock in front of the man&#039;s face.<br />\tMarkus grabs Alex&#039;s hips, raising his head to kiss the tip of Alex&#039;s cock. The King peppers Alex&#039;s dick with light, soft kisses. Along the shaft, over the head, on the frenulum. Gradually, the kisses become more passionate, with Markus&#039; tongue easing out to lick and tease the swollen boyhead of his lover. <br />\tThe King leans back on his pillow, his mouth open in a large &quot;O&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;I&#039;m waiting, Alexander, for you to slide that dick into my mouth until your balls rest on my chin.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;As you command, my King.&rdquo; Alex says, grinning happily. He holds onto the bedframe with his hands and thrusts his cock into Markus&#039;s mouth, easily able to pummel into out and pull back out. He fucks the willing hole and moans, looking down at his lover sucking him off and moans. &ldquo;Yeah, suck that dick babe. You love how it tastes and how it feels.&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus slurps loudly, guzzling Alex&#039;s cock in his mouth. Reaching around with one hand, he squeezes his lover&#039;s firm, smooth buttocks. His fingers trace lightly along the crack as he sucks the boy deep and hard. His other hand roams over the boy&#039;s stomach and chest, squeezing and pinching his nipples. His tongue works on and around the head of Alex&#039;s cock, tracing the edge of the head, following the veins on Alex&#039;s shaft, lingering on Alex&#039;s circumcision scar.<br />\t&ldquo;Fuck! You&#039;re gonna make me cum before you fuck me.&rdquo; Alex gripes. His moans grow louder, especially when his ass is graced by his favorite hands, which finger his soft and hairless ass. He pumps faster and braces himself before he ejaculates, firing six shots into Markus&#039;s throat. He pulls out once he hears Markus slurp up the last drop, although his hard remains just as hard as before, hoping that it&#039;ll get a second load to spray out tonight. After his massive orgasm, the boy shifts to the side of the bed and yanks the towel off of Markus, tossing it against the doorway and laughing. He spits into his hard and starts stroking his King. &ldquo;How about you rim me while I suck your cock?&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus slides himself towards the foot of the bed. He spreads his legs, his erection pointing eagerly to the ceiling. The precum oozing along the tip catches the candlelight. He grabs Alex&#039;s hips, helping the boy climb on top of him and tucking his legs up so that his ass is open and available to his king. Markus kisses Alex&#039;s hole, lightly teasing it with his tongue for a minute. He nibbles on one of Alex&#039;s cheeks before plunging his tongue into the boy&#039;s hole. Alex moans, and Markus smiles as he pushes his tongue deeper into the boy. Soon, he is loudly slurping and eating Alex&#039;s young ass.<br />\tAlex grips one hand around the shaft, teasing the head with his tongue before going down to smell at his sack, which has a perfect manly scent of sweat to it. His tongue swirls around each testicle before taking them both into their mouth as he massages them with his lips and tongue. He kisses his way up the shaft before taking all of it deep into his yearning mouth. The teens soft red lips and generous amount of spit in his mouth are all pleasures like none other upon the King&#039;s rod and Alex uses his gifts and skills to his upmost ability. His hands squeeze, fingernails digging, palms resting upon the man&#039;s thighs as Alex takes all of him into his mouth slowly.<br />\t&ldquo;Gods, that feels good.&rdquo; Markus moans into Alex&#039;s ass. Gently, he slips a finger into his boy. Then he adds a second. He feels around inside the boy, pushing in, reaching for his pleasure gland. He knows he&#039;s found it when Alex moans loudly, gasping for air as his body trembles. He fingers Alex, sucking on his balls as the boy works on his cock. &ldquo;I&#039;m close, Alex...drink it down and then I plan to fuck you. Long and well.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex strokes and sucks him faster; the sounds his mouth makes are loud and turn his master on to no end. He &#039;mmm&#039;s and moans as he sucks, using tongue mostly on the underside of Markus&#039;s shaft is it glides against his gums and into his throat.<br />\tMarkus&#039; entire body jerks. He grunts and moans as his cock unloads in Alex&#039;s mouth. Streams of cum throb into Alex&#039;s mouth as Markus&#039; ball pump the seed hard. Five streams, large and thick, fill Alex&#039;s mouth. Markus breathes deeply. &ldquo;On your stomach so I can fuck you. . .&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yes sir.&rdquo; Alex says, licking cum off of his lips before swallowing the rest of the sweet milky load. He bounces up in the bed and lands on his tummy. Once resting, he raises his ass up in the air and perfectly positions himself, proving to be a master of bottoming. Alex hugs and rubs the side of his face against a long pillow before looking back to watch Markus stroke a decent amount of grease over his cock. &ldquo;Fuck yeah. I love how your dick shines when you&#039;re getting it all greased up. You&#039;re so beautiful, babe.&rdquo;<br />\tSmiling, Markus slaps Alex&#039;s left cheek and then his right. &ldquo;You&#039;re not bad from this angle, either, my boy.&rdquo; He smacks the cheeks again. &ldquo;You&#039;re not bad from any angle. In fact, I&#039;d have to say you&#039;re pretty damned hot from every angle.&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus pokes his head against Alex&#039;s hole, slipping it just inside the boy. Rather than pushing in more deeply, he slaps Alex&#039;s ass. Hard. The sound of the spanks fills the room for a moment. Markus eases himself in a little more, spanking his boy again. Alex&#039;s cheek glow red and hot when Markus pushes his entire six and a half inches into his lover. He leans himself forward, slowly pumping in and out of Alex. His stomach and chest rest against Alex&#039;s back. He reaches out, lacing his fingers together with Alex&#039;s. His breath is hot and moist on Alex&#039;s neck. &ldquo;I love you, Alexander.&rdquo;<br />\tThe young Cruiberg&#039;s prostate is fully massaged by each thrust, granting extreme pleasure through Alex&#039;s boy during every single second of their love-making. His cock pulsates just from the feeling of being fucked. &ldquo;I love you too, my King. Markus and Alexander Yorem.&rdquo; Alex opens his right hand, noticing how both of their palms have been scarred and healing. He closes it again and holds tightly, enjoying the brace of their skin as the King pushes into him again and again.<br />\tWith every thrust deep into the boy, Markus groans. When he&#039;s not kissing Alex&#039;s neck and ears, he rubs his face against Alex. Their bodies are plastered together, the two becoming one. Thoughts of Harath and Cruiberg, thoughts of the war evaporate from their minds. All there is in the world is the two of them, joining together in pleasure, joining as one in love. &ldquo;Can I make you cum like this, Alex?&rdquo;<br />\tAlex nods, moaning and biting his bottom lip. Sweat trickles down his shoulders and neck. &ldquo;You&#039;ve done it before. Just fuck me harder.&rdquo; He teases, shaking his ass and tightening his hole around Markus&#039;s cock. Both of the moan like crazy and then proceed to kiss, albeit fast and messy like rabid animals.<br />\tMarkus begins fucking his boyfriend harder. &ldquo;As you wish. . .&rdquo; His body slaps against Alex&#039;s. The sound fills the room, overshadowing their moans. Faster and harder, harder and faster the king pounds his cock as deeply into his boy as he can. Sweat drips from his face, dotting Alex&#039;s back. Markus grunts like an animal, deep and guttural. Alex can feel the king&#039;s heartbeat pounding against his back. &ldquo;You were made for me, Alex...My cock belongs inside you! Aagghh! Yes!&rdquo; The king&#039;s breathing is rapid and ragged. Alex senses that his lover is close.<br />\tAlex moans, licking all around his lips and painting the most obscenely seductive faces as he continues with his tricks of pleasuring Markus&#039;s cock while bottoming. It&#039;s not long before he feels his own orgasm ready to burst, which swells in his tight sack while his cock dances. He lets out a loud gasp as his seed spurts out onto the sheets. &ldquo;Fuck! I&#039;m cuming, babe! Fuck yes!&rdquo;<br />\tMarkus lets go of Alex&#039;s hand. Without missing a beat, he continues to pound the boy&#039;s ass as he slides the hand under Alex. He squeezes the boy&#039;s cock and smears Alex&#039;s load all over his palm and fingers. Pulling the hand out from beneath the boy, he licks some of the cum from his hand. The rest he smears on his face. His grunting shifts to a higher pitch and suddenly. . .<br />\tAlex feels the cock inside of him swell and loose its load. His insides are coated in the royal seed as Markus gasps and moans. &ldquo;Uunngghh, baaabe!&rdquo; He pumps as he cums, firing another half dozen loads into Alex before he collapses onto Alex&#039;s back. His cock remains hard and deeply embedded in the boy. He kisses Alex&#039;s back and shoulders as he lays on him.<br />\t&ldquo;That was perfect. Beautiful.&rdquo; Alex says, moving up closer and kissing Markus&#039;s shoulder. They cuddle close and tongue-kiss for a moment. &ldquo;I know you&#039;ll be safe in the battle, so there&#039;s no need to worry. But being parted always hurts.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yes, it does.&rdquo; He smiles at Alex. &ldquo;You&#039;re ahead of me there. I worry for you constantly. Not so much the Harathi. More so with Rakshahas and the others. Let&#039;s get cleaned up and get some sleep, Alex.&rdquo; He runs a hand through Alex&#039;s hair. &ldquo;My beautiful Alex.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex hops off of the bed and wipes himself off with the towel Markus had previously wore, then does the same with his lover before enveloping himself as the bottom spoon in bed with him. He blows out the candles and eases into a gentle rest with his lover... That is until his dreams overtake him.<br /><br />\tOnly two hours after sleeping, Alex slips out of his rest and finds himself in the pitch black darkness of his bedroom. He sighs, wiping sweat from his forehead and moves to the end of the bed. Nightmares of the King&#039;s daughter again. She always finds her way into his mind even when he feels he&#039;s at his safest.<br />\tSeeing that it&#039;s night time, Alex slips into the closest garments of his on the floor. He&#039;s careful to step out of the room and fish for a cigarette, which he lights and keeps along the side of his mouth as he ventures around the kitchen. Eventually, Alex finds the medicine cabinet, which is full of mason jars with herbs and various healing materials. He figured that if a demon lived here then there would most certainly be something left behind from their time. Alex smirks, taking a small jar with him and exits the home. The Cruiberg heads to the diner to find some left over food, then to the prison, igniting the same torch as usual and stumbling into Alex&#039;s cell.<br />\tThe demon boy lays on his side, seeming to be awake but barely conscious of his surroundings. He notices the bowl of water set out for him on the other side of the cell. &ldquo;Drew, it&#039;s Alex. I have some food and medicine for you. Can you sit up at all?&rdquo;<br />\tDrew shakes his head, just barely. &ldquo;No...&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;That&#039;s fine. I&#039;ll... I&#039;ll help you up.&rdquo; Alex says. He carefully maneuvers Drew to lay his back against the wall. Thoughts from his conversation from before dig into his thoughts. If Markus hadn&#039;t of commanded him to do anything risky he&#039;d surely put an end to the demons suffering now while also eliminating the horrid threat that he could be if Raethum&#039;s plans don&#039;t work out. &ldquo;I have some cuts of salmon for you. It&#039;s not much though.&rdquo; He notices the nasty wound on Drew&#039;s silvery white tail, which isn&#039;t bleeding, but still looks just as bad as before. &ldquo;And I also brought some medicine to put on your tail. You&#039;re strong, but if that wound gets any worse you might end up crippled or in worse pain.&rdquo;<br />\tDrew looks up at Alex. Tears well in his eyes and run down his cheeks. &ldquo;It hurt so much, Alex. You can&#039;t imagine how much it hurt.&rdquo; He takes small sips of water and rips small bites of salmon as Alex tends his tail. &ldquo;I wanted to kill him. To just crunch Raethum in my jaws and turn him to ash with my fire.&rdquo; The demon boys weeps quietly. &ldquo;But I couldn&#039;t. I tried, I really did. I just couldn&#039;t. And then he turned me back. It hurt so much. The demons who died are the lucky ones. I&#039;m cursed. I&#039;ll never die. I live forever as Raethum&#039;s plaything.&rdquo; The demon boy crosses his arms and cries into them.<br />\t&ldquo;It&#039;s okay to cry. Let it all out.&rdquo; Alex frowns, rubbing the clear ointment over Drew&#039;s tail. He wipes his hands clean and moves the bowl over to the demon. &ldquo;Did he do this to torture you too? Treat you like a dog? Here...&rdquo; He takes the bowl, carefully helping the boy drink the water from inside of it down before placing it back on the floor. &ldquo;If it helps at all and I&#039;m sure it doesn&#039;t, I saw Raethum die in my visions of a horribly violent death. Perhaps you were the one to do it.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;He says that demons are worse than dogs. A dog will fight to protect itself and demons are too cowardly to fight.&rdquo; He drinks the water, wincing as Alex tends to his tail. He likes inflicting pain. &ldquo;He likes torturing me. He says I can&#039;t be killed so he can do anything to me.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;All because you&#039;ve been brought back doesn&#039;t mean you&#039;re immortal, Drew. Be more careful with this life and don&#039;t kill some idiots because they bothered you.&rdquo; Alex chuckles, but quickly disregards his badly placed joke. &ldquo;You know that he would stop if you just joined us. Maybe he would even help you with the pain. I know you won&#039;t agree now, but perhaps you will at some point.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Turn against my people? The ones who never visited me in jail or spoke out for me when I was condemned? I can&#039;t do that.&rdquo; He shakes his head slowly. &ldquo;There&#039;s no way I could do that to my people.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Of course you can.&rdquo; Alex raises his voice, but calmly shifts away to assure the boy that he&#039;s not trying to be a threat. &ldquo;I don&#039;t want to hurt you, but this is war. How am I supposed to be friends with someone that&#039;s on the other side? Your people have abandoned you. Hated you. Praised your execution. Don&#039;t you want revenge?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;No. I don&#039;t.&rdquo; Drew shakes his head. &ldquo;What would revenge accomplish? They abandoned me, yes. But that doesn&#039;t mean I should abandon them. Besides, you&#039;re killing the demons of Varn Ra now. The demons who left me are in Brackenford. In Harath. Why would I want revenge against demons who never harmed me?&rdquo; He looks at Alex. &ldquo;Besides, who says I&#039;m on the other side? All I want is to be free of this place and find Aldan. I&#039;d love nothing more than being a house-husband to him. But you people won&#039;t leave me alone. Won&#039;t leave my friends alone. And you want me to turn on them to help you? I can&#039;t do that.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex stares at Drew in disappointment, knowing all too well that Drew won&#039;t give in. It aches him to know that when the time comes... Maybe he could poison him and the demon would die without even feeling a thing or realizing it. The horrible thoughts consume him. Soon enough, he finds his eyes welling with tears. &ldquo;I&#039;m sorry. I don&#039;t know what I&#039;m supposed to do.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;You&#039;re Cruiberg. You&#039;re supposed to rejoice in my pain, right?&rdquo; Drew looks at Alex. &ldquo;Except you&#039;re not. Are you? And you don&#039;t rejoice in my pain. What do you want to do, Alexander? With me? For me? Why are you here? Feeding me, bringing me medicine. Listening to me. You&#039;re not what you pretend to be. Or what you want to be. You&#039;re helping me because someone hurt you in the past, just like Raethum hurts me. I guess that makes us brothers, in a way.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Shut up already.&rdquo; Alex says under his breath. He closes his eyes, pulls on his hair and exhales. &ldquo;The only reason I feel bad for you is because you&#039;re a kid just as young as I am. Maybe we&#039;re two years apart, whatever. That&#039;s all.&rdquo; His lie doesn&#039;t work on Drew. The boy kicks at the floor again. &ldquo;I&#039;ll see you tomorrow night. Hopefully your tail will be all healed by then.&rdquo; He says, rising up and taking the jar with him.<br />\tDrew struggles to his feet and limps next to Alex. He leans his head on Alex&#039;s shoulder for a moment. &ldquo;Don&#039;t worry. I won&#039;t tell anyone. Thank you, Alexander. Stay safe.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Shit. You&#039;re making me cry.&rdquo; Alex wipes the tears from his face, hugging Drew hard. &ldquo;You deserve to see Aldan again, even if it means we have to be on opposite sides and fight in the future.&rdquo; The teenager breaks apart, stepping away and putting out the fire before heading back outside.<br />\tA strange fear rushes through Alex&#039;s blood before he notices an older, much taller man standing to his side bumping into him. King Rakshahas glares down at the boy. &ldquo;Out for a walk, are you?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Ah, yes, my Lord.&rdquo; Alex bows. He sneaks the jar into his pocket immediately and hopes that the King doesn&#039;t notice.<br />\tRakshahas stares at Alex, his cold eyes sweeping over the boy. Up and down he looks with his one good eye. &ldquo;Strange place for a walk. Our cells for our demon prisoners. Did you find one to your tastes?&rdquo; He leans close and whispers, &ldquo;I must say, I&#039;m surprised at you Alexander. What would Markus say if he knew?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;It&#039;s not like that.&rdquo; Alex easily slips into a lie and plays with it. &ldquo;I was curious what Rakshahas was up to in there. To my surprise, I found a cell of starving demons and his new pet. At first I thought about kicking his dog around, but I didn&#039;t know if that would anger Raethum.&rdquo; He snickers, pretending to be cruel and please Rakshahas. &ldquo;Instead, I went into the other cell and tortured one of the other slaves for information.&rdquo;<br />\tRakshahas snickers and sneers, &ldquo;For information. Did you find anything useful? I&#039;m about to try to get some information.&rdquo; He winks at Alex. &ldquo;From one of them.&rdquo; Rakshahas chuckles. &ldquo;Best leave the one called Drew alone. He is Raethum&#039;s favorite and we have big plans for him. He and I would be angry if someone interfered with our plans. I&#039;ve heard stories that you&#039;re quite. . .energetic as far as sex goes. Jeremey confided that he could barely keep up with you.&rdquo; He rests a hand on Alex&#039;s shoulder. The boy can smell the hard whiskey on the Fire King&#039;s breath. &ldquo;Jeremy and two of his best warriors and they could barely satisfy you?&rdquo; He reaches down, fondling Alex&#039;s privates. &ldquo;You almost make me wish I liked boys.&rdquo; Rakshahas laughs and lets go of Alex&#039;s junk. &ldquo;Don&#039;t worry, I won&#039;t divulge your fun with King Jeremy to Markus. As long as you don&#039;t cross me, that is.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex steps back and nods his head, giving him the cold shoulder. &ldquo;Of course, my lord. I must get going.&rdquo; He nods and begins walking back to the house. His body shakes as he recalls the feeling of Rakshahas touching him. Once inside, Alex pulls off his shoes again, heads into the pitch black room to strip and cuddle back up with his lover. An hour passes before he finally drifts back off to sleep. This time he simply dreams of nothing and wakes up in bed to see his King getting dressed for battle.<br />\tMarkus pauses as he dresses. He leans over the bed to kiss Alex. &ldquo;Good morning, Sir Alexander. Rough night? You slept uneasy. I almost woke you. You had a look of such . . .pain on your face. I held you close and whispered to you and you seemed to calm.&rdquo; He sits on the side of the bed. &ldquo;We have time if you&#039;d like to talk.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Seems like an every-night thing that&#039;s been going on for years.&rdquo; Alex shrugs, pulling back the sheets and sitting near his King. He&#039;s nude with bits of sunlight peaking through the window to glimmer over his body. &ldquo;You look quite handsome today. Haven&#039;t seen you dressed like that in a while either.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;It&#039;s not the most practical dress for every day.&rdquo; Markus knocks his knuckles against his plate vambraces. &ldquo;Tends to make people worry that you&#039;re apt to kill them.&rdquo; He grins. &ldquo;That&#039;s not my style of rulership. But, when the circumstance calls for it.&rdquo; He stands, turning to let Alex view his armor and ensemble. &ldquo;When time calls for it, there&#039;s no reason not to look good.&rdquo; He sighs and stares at Alex. &ldquo;Get dressed or you&#039;re going to tempt me out of all of this and we don&#039;t really have time to fuck and then dress again. But, oh, how I wish we did!&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yes sir&rdquo;. Alex says. He turns to the dresser and dawns for the clothes he war at the beginning of the war when he was simply noted as a squire for Markus - brown linen pants, tight black boots that go halfway up to his knees, a creamy gray tunic first and a beautiful leather piece that works as armor. The last bits he puts on are the pendant symbol for the Blood King to his heart and a small codpiece under his belt. <br />\tThe boy attaches one sword and two daggers to his belt, then waits for Markus with a smile on his face.<br />\t&ldquo;Stunning. Absolutely stunning.&rdquo; Markus leads Alex to breakfast. They eat in front of the fireplace, a light breakfast of oat porridge and fruit. Men and women come and go, getting last minute orders and delivering last minute reports. &ldquo;I&#039;ll be leaving four couriers with you as well as Sargonne. You&#039;ll have your guard as well. If you need to contact me, send a courier. Don&#039;t hesitate. I&#039;ve left you four so you don&#039;t have to ponder whether a message is vital enough to send to me. Likewise, I&#039;ll send messengers to let you know how we fare.&rdquo; Markus sighs. &ldquo;We&#039;ll be back inside of a week but it feels like it will be longer.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I pray that it goes by faster so that we can leave this place together and prepare for the next major battle.&rdquo; Alex says, drinking his coffee as if it were water to pull him out of dread and into the embrace of his lover, who he has so little time with for today. &ldquo;Do you think you&#039;ll even get to do any fighting today? Or will it simply be commanding people?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Most likely, no fighting today. Something unexpected could arise. We&#039;ll be prepared either way.&rdquo; They finish breakfast and head outside. &ldquo;I&#039;d tell you not to worry, but I don&#039;t think you&#039;d obey.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;No... I&#039;m not worried at all, actually.&rdquo; Alex says. &ldquo;I know I should because I love you and all, but I know that these idiots are no match for your men.&rdquo; He snickers and laughs, finally waking up and enjoying his breakfast.<br />\t&ldquo;We hope. You never know in battle. One lucky arrow. One unlucky stumble. We&#039;re as prepared as we can be. We have every advantage and I like our chances.&rdquo; He shakes his head. &ldquo;But I won&#039;t claim the victory already won before we&#039;ve fought the battle.&rdquo;<br />\tThey move outside, carrying steaming mugs of coffee. The supply wagons and their escort are already moving out. Some of Rakshahas&#039; men cheer Markus&#039; force as they depart.<br />\tMarkus points at the wagons as they disappear around a bend in the road. &ldquo;You know why we send them out first? They move so slowly. Give them a bit of a head start. I&#039;ll move out last with my horsed guard. We&#039;ll have the vanguard by midday.&rdquo; He turns to face Alex. &ldquo;Any last minute questions? Advice?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Nothing you don&#039;t already know already.&rdquo; Alex says, watching the other soldiers who are excited to finally battle for the first time in weeks. &ldquo;End them as quick as you can, surround them if possible, use high ground... And that I love you, I love you, I love you dearly. That&#039;s about it.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Three times you love me? That&#039;s more than enough to carry me to victory.&rdquo; Markus takes Alex&#039;s hand in his own. He holds his hand tightly as they watch his men march away. They&#039;re rough and disorganized. The Harathi would call them a mob. Alex knows, though, that an army is how they fight, not how they march. All the pretty formations and ordered marching aren&#039;t going to save Harath. Not this war. Not against Markus and Alex Yorem together.<br />\tMarkus releases Alex&#039;s hand. He mounts his horse, the great, dark steed that Markus favors above all others. The King leans low to one side. He brushes a hand through Alex&#039;s hair and kisses his forehead. &ldquo;Be safe. Use the couriers. Keep an eye on things for me.&rdquo; Markus cups his hand to Alex&#039;s cheek. &ldquo;You are my boy. Be safe.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I will, my King.&rdquo; Alex&#039;s eyes well up red and he quickly dashes the tears away from his cheeks. He smiles back up to him, turns his head to the right and notices Sargonne walking over to them. The priest holds the boy close to him as they watch Markus slowly depart their headquarters.<br />\tSuddenly, another horse comes dashing by and stopping in front of them. Young Varon smiles down at his &#039;friend&#039; and jumps off. &ldquo;I&#039;ll be heading off too, Alex. My King wants me by his side. It seems like it&#039;ll just be you and Rakshahas men for now.&rdquo; He looks around, noticing Raethum heading to the prison. The pain and anguish of having to leave his own lover hurts him as well. &ldquo;Stay safe, my friend. You have to stay alive so that I can beat you some day!&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yeah, alright. We&#039;ll see about that.&rdquo; Alex half-smiles and shrugs. He watches as Varon dawns back onto his horse and joins with his men.<br />\tWith Markus and his men departed, the camp seems quiet. Almost empty, even though Rakshahas and his men are still in residence. Sargonne sighs and looks at his friend. It feels . . .strange. Quiet. Abandoned. It always takes some getting used to. The ebb and flow of war. One minute, you&#039;re at a table made for six but there&#039;s ten of you. You&#039;re elbowing each other, reaching over each other for bread or beer. And then? He snaps his fingers. One morning, there&#039;s three of you at the table and it feels the most empty place in the world. And it&#039;s graveyards that over crowded. The older man sighs looks to the sky. &ldquo;Storm&#039;s brewing. We should have the men lay in extra firewood. He nudges Alex You okay, lad?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Sort of.&rdquo; Alex looks up to the sky. The gust of wind breezing past him has him at unease. Something&#039;s up. &ldquo;I don&#039;t know what, but I can feel it coming our way. I&#039;m going to have my men and women ready for anything. Now would be the perfect time for an attack with two armies leaving. We&#039;re just like sitting ducks here...&rdquo; He speaks quietly, almost as if he can feel the presence lingering from further away.<br /><br />\tThe day passes slowly for Alexander and Sargonne. They tend to their duties, going over reports and messages, Alex acting for Markus with Sargonne&#039;s advice. The pair take time after breakfast to spar with each other and with Alex&#039;s fird. &ldquo;What&#039;s a fird?&rdquo; Alex asks when Sargonne uses the term.<br />\t&ldquo;Hmm? Fird? That&#039;s your body of warriors sworn to your service. Men may serve you without the Blood Oath, but they&#039;re not part of your fird. Your fird are your most loyal and trusted men and women, all sworn to you by blood.&rdquo; Sargonne explains. &ldquo;I have no title or power. No position. Thus, I have no fird. You&#039;re a knight, if not a proper prince. You&#039;re allowed to have as large a fird as Markus or the High King allows. Raks, Jeremy, Klaus? They have no say in the matter. Just Markus and Rhys.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex nods. A part of his ego is pleased knowing how he has his own men bound to him by blood, but in all he does it for Markus, not just himself. He doesn&#039;t know if that&#039;s the right philosophy to have though, being that he wants to protect his men and women as they protect him. He continues to spar with them until lunchtime. By then, the boy is pleased with how tranquil and automatic working with his new warriors has become.<br />\tAlex and his troop break for lunch. They head for the mess tent, picking up their food and eating outside the tent. The air is cool and a light breeze blows consistently. The men and women talk about the battle that Markus and their fellow soldiers are marching towards. Unspoken, but known to all, is their wish to be there, fighting alongside them all.<br />\tAs they finish their meal, leftover beef and pork cooked together in a thick broth with potatoes, carrots, and turnips, a lone rider enters camp at a gallop. The rider speaks with a guardsman, then head for the mess tent. He bows before Rakshahas as the King is leaving the tent, and speaks to the King.<br />\tRakshahas listens intently. When the rider finishes, he bows to the king and takes his mount to the stables. King Rakshahas smiles and claps his hands together. He spies Alex and chuckles before turning and heading for his quarters. He bounces in his steps, calling out greetings to his officers as he walks.<br />\tSargonne leans close to Alex &ldquo;Anything that puts him in that good of a mood makes me nervous.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yeah. Even better yet is that he&#039;s giving me the face...&rdquo; Alex notes.<br />\tOne of the soldiers sprints towards Alex and stops to speak. &ldquo;Sir Alex Yorem, the King has called to speak with you alone. It&#039;s urgent.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex looks at Sargonne and rolls his eyes. He finishes his beer and follows the man across the field and to the dinner tent, where Raks stands at a long table, which has nothing but a map stretched out on it. The boy immediately recognizes the map as the one he had drawn long ago of the Harathi King&#039;s castle way before the war and when he resided in Markus&#039;s castle. There&#039;s some changes though according to the plans he had previously written.<br />\t&ldquo;I&#039;m guessing you know what this is.&rdquo; Raks says. He hushes the soldier behind Alex away as the young Cruiberg steps forth.<br />\t&ldquo;Yes... I&#039;m the one who made it. Question is how it fell into your hands when it was well hidden and tucked away at Markus&#039;s castle.&rdquo; Alex won&#039;t let his stare go as he looks into the ruthless King&#039;s soul. &ldquo;What the fuck is going on?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;War, my boy. War.&rdquo; He looks at Alex, smirking. His marled and ruined eye leaks some sort of milky fluid. Raks brushes it away absently. &ldquo;Obviously, it wasn&#039;t that well hidden, was it? And I think it should be obvious to a boy of your talents what&#039;s going on. I&#039;m disappointed you haven&#039;t figured it out. Shall I tell you or would you like to guess?&rdquo;<br />\tThe boy pauses, reading over what was been fixed for the battle plans. When Alex had first wrote it out he had wanted to make sure that it would inflict as little damage on the Cruiberg side as possible, but from what he see&#039;s now Raks has turned it into a complete bloodbath and suicide mission. &ldquo;I know what you plan to do. You could have done it my way and had just the King and his wife murdered, but you want everyone to die. Not only that, but you want to plot more attacks across all of the capitol. You&#039;ll put the migrants in Cruiberg into extreme danger by doing so. They&#039;ll be found, lynched, maybe even cleansed ethnically. This is a horrible idea, Raks...&rdquo;<br />\tThe older man&#039;s eyes narrow. &ldquo;It&#039;s King Rakshahas to you.&rdquo; His voice is low and he speaks slowly. &ldquo;You are not a King. We are not &#039;pals&#039; or &#039;buddies&#039;.&rdquo; His face relaxes. &ldquo;And you haven&#039;t been as nice to me as you are to Markus and Jeremy. Tsk, tsk. That&#039;s very rude of you, by the way.&rdquo; He takes a cup, sipping from it as he points to the map. &ldquo;The Cruiberg living in Brackenford will have to defend themselves, then, won&#039;t they? If they can&#039;t, they will be lynched. But, if they go to live in the lands of our enemies and cannot defend themselves, well... No great loss, then, is it? Losing a few traitors in exchange for eliminating the entire House of Haleax and causing chaos in their capital is more than worth it.&rdquo;<br />\tAlex grunts, but quickly changes his attitude to appeal to the King and apologizes. &ldquo;You&#039;re right, my Lord. I&#039;m sorry to have spoken to you like that. But can&#039;t we discuss how we can better handle this? I mean, I was the one that came up with this plan and made the map. Nobody knows how to do this better than I do.&rdquo;<br />\tRakshahas falls into a chair. He shrugs. &ldquo;It&#039;s done. The orders are given and my forces deployed. Sometime tonight, tomorrow at the latest, they will strike! Imagine it, Alexander!&rdquo; He stands and refills his cup. &ldquo;Their King murdered. His family and closest advisers, murdered. Chaos through their cities. Blood flowing in their streets.&rdquo; He points. &ldquo;And we engage their Prince in battle with a fire dragon on our side! The Harathi will crumble. If Prince Ronan doesn&#039;t beg for a truce and surrender to us, his armies will be broken by doubt and fear. We will roll them up like an old carpet.&rdquo; He slams a fist down on the table. &ldquo;And then, we kill every demon left in Varn Ra or E&#039;hbel and anywhere else they scurry and hide. For good measure, we&#039;ll take our dragon to Aigua and burn their damned wall and kill their water dragon. No more demons. No free anthros. Cruiberg ruling over all. Cruiberg as gods on earth. And I shall be named as Rhys&#039; successor.&rdquo; He looks at Alex. &ldquo;That&#039;s worth the life of every Cruiberg in Harath.&rdquo;<br />\tVisions flare through the boys mind as he moves closer to Raks. He see&#039;s into the mans childhood and how he had been born on the battlefields, how family members were killed by both demons and athro&#039;s alike and he fought his first battle at the age of eight. Raks has lived almost every day of his life by taking others or being part of someone&#039;s death. He see&#039;s the demon that had dug a spear into his eye and wounded Rakshahas so long ago and how now a chaotic flame is seized inside of him, ready to consume the world if it possibly could. But Alex knows that rage can also become a weakness.<br />\t&ldquo;Well then... Good luck to your men in Harath. May the King, his wife and subordinates die gruesomely and slowly.&rdquo; Alex says calmly, slowly backing to the exit of the tent. &ldquo;If that is all...&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Not quite.&rdquo; He stares hard at Alex with his one good eye. &ldquo;Before Rhys names me as the next High King, he will consult the other Kings. Use your influence with Markus and Jeremy. Get them to support me. Or at least, to not oppose me. You have both of them wrapped around your. . .ah. . .your finger. Do this and I will recognize you as Markus&#039; heir when I am High King. You will be a Prince of the Cruiberg. And keep me informed of what Markus and Jeremy are thinking in regards to the next High King. I&#039;m sure you have some pillow talk with them after they fuck you.&rdquo;<br />\tAs much as Alex wants to yell back at him and call him a foolish idiot, he retains the same look on his face and continues his lies. &ldquo;Yes, my Lord. I&#039;m... Glad you took upon my plan on the castle and plan to put it to good use. Any information that comes my way will come to you as well.&rdquo; The boy bows, hoping he can exit now. &#039;Piece of shit thinks he could be better than Rhys&#039; He thinks to himself. &#039;You&#039;d be a disgrace to his sword and legacy.&#039;<br />\t&ldquo;Good. Good.&rdquo; He smiles at Alex. &ldquo;I&#039;m glad we understand each other. You may go, but keep this in mind, too.&rdquo; He walks close to Alex, sipping his wine. He leans close, brushing a hand through Alex&#039;s hair. &ldquo;Markus may be gone for several days. You may feel lonely at night. Normally, I don&#039;t fancy boys, but you&#039;ve enraptured two of the five kings. I confess to being a little curious if you&#039;re as good a fuck as Jeremy says you are. Perhaps we can find out some night.&rdquo; He smiles and moves to kiss Alex&#039;s neck.<br />\t&ldquo;We&#039;ll see.&rdquo; He says with a sense of superiority. The boy trail out of the tent and towards Sargonne, who has been waiting for him with a worried face for quite some time. The spits and takes a cigarette from one of his men before whispering to the priest. I&#039;m ready for this storm to come already. &ldquo;Come along.&rdquo; He says, leading the way for him back to where Markus slept. Once inside, the boy tells him everything that him and the King spoke of earlier on.<br /><br /></span>","pools_count":0,"title":"The Battle for E'hbel Chapter Seven","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"application/msword","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"2","rating_name":"Adult","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"3","name":"Violence","description":"Mild violence","rating_id":"1"},{"content_tag_id":"4","name":"Sexual Themes","description":"Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal","rating_id":"2"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"t","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"0","views":"96"}