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","count":"6","submission_left_submission_id":"2395876","submission_left_file_name":"3507815_damijon_levs_tale_chapter_five.doc","submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/3507/3507815_damijon_levs_tale_chapter_five.jpg","submission_left_thumbnail_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/3507/3507815_damijon_levs_tale_chapter_five.jpg","submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/3507/3507815_damijon_levs_tale_chapter_five.jpg","submission_left_thumb_huge_x":"300","submission_left_thumb_huge_y":"299","submission_left_thumb_large_x":"200","submission_left_thumb_large_y":"199","submission_left_thumb_medium_x":"120","submission_left_thumb_medium_y":"119"}],"description":"Thanks to everyone that has been reading! :D Super appreciate it. <3","description_bbcode_parsed":"<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>Thanks to everyone that has been reading! :D Super appreciate it. &lt;3</span>","writing":"THE BOY HEROES FROM THE LAND OF ERIK (A Series of Epics)\nEpic no. 4 - \nLev’s Tale\nBy DamiJon\n\nNotes: No horny stuff in this chapter. Instead, this one is more based on character building and plot. Trigger warning – this chapter does have some intense violence in it.\n\nChapter Six.\n\n\tAldan waits by the door. He smiles at his boy and boyfriend. “You two are so cute. I just want to eat you up.” He opens the door and heads out with the young, troubled demon boy.\n\tLev dances as he walks, forming fires in his hands as he moves in circles and somersaults around. Eventually, he stops and calms down, standing to Aldan's side. “Sorry about that. I just can't hold in how happy I am to be with him. Do I even deserve someone as beautiful as him?”\n\t“Deserve?” He shakes his head. “Did I deserve Drew? How happy we were for all of five days? Do I deserve Katey and my children?” He shakes his head again. :Deserve has so little to do with what happens in our lives, Lev. Don't worry about things like 'deserve'. Be happy and let yourself be happy. Keep making him happy. Who can say why we love who we love?”\n\t“Huh... A little to philosophical for me to understand.” He rolls his eyes, still grinning and messing around with you. “Love sure is weird. Do you mind if I hang out with Aizen for a bit after I get my tea? You can talk to my parents or Holt. Holt's kind of... Awkward though. He's always so serious, but he's kind of relaxing to listen to.”\n\t“You'd better not be stepping out on my boy!” Aldan teases. “Certainly, Lev. Do you think you'll be a while? Demons and elves don't sleep, but I do.” He chuckles. “It will be fine. Honestly, I hope that maybe you and Aizen will have some insight into our problem. I'm stumped right now.”\n\t“The only insight we have is drinking a bottle of absinthe between us both.” He laughs, bumping into him playfully. “Just don't try and hit on Holt. Those two are super duper in love with each other and would never consider anyone else in their love life.” Lev sprints, jumps up a tree, then does two flips in the air before he lands down on his feet. “Almost there.”\n\t“What kind of man do you think I am? I'm married, after all.” Aldan laughs. “Twice married, as a matter of fact. I don't need any more lovers. I'm happy with my three.”\n\t“Okay, love bird. You have any coins on you? I wasn't kidding about that bottle.” They're close by and seems to be a busier night out than usual. All of the tables are filled outside and there are baristas filling out their orders and handing them their drinks. Horsecabs try to make their way through people. Musicians play further out in the street. “Holy cow! Wooh! They're making hella business tonight. It hasn't been this busy for months!”\n\t“I have coins.” He takes a half dozen gold coins from his pouch, and a like number of silver. Handing them to Lev, he speaks, “This should be plenty. I'm not exactly the most welcome fella in the shop, you know.” He looks at Lev. “You do realize that I do care about you. Not just as Bryan's love, not just as whatever we are...” He waggles his finger back and forth between them. “Anyhow. That should be enough coin.”\n\t“Thanks. Don't worry, you can have some too.” Lev shakes the coins around in his hands as he walks in. Almost all of the bar stools up front are taken. His tail moves side to side swiftly and cautiously, showing that he's anxious by the number of people inside. Some of the people that live in the building are volunteering to work, which is not normal to see. Lev squeezes between two girls, who pout and look at him strangely as he speaks to one of the people behind the counter. His tail uncontrollably hits one of the girls in her face, but she doesn't call him out. A few minutes later, Lev returns with a large bottle of absinthe, no label on it, just a vibrant green color inside of the bottle. “Long day for you, huh? You probably deserve the drink more than anyone else.” He hands you the leftover change, popping off the top as the two of them head downstairs. “One of the girls at the counter said that our high lord Rath passed away today. Drank himself to the grave. Don't worry. Nobody liked him anyway. This place is going to be much better without him now that my median is going to be the new high lord.” He drinks straight from the bottle, gulping down two mouthfuls of it before he hands it to Aldan. “Wooo!!! Careful with that! Bites like a viper.”\n\t“High Lord Rath? I think I met him once.” Aldan takes the bottle, raises it in salute to Lev and takes a swallow. He purses his lips and whistles. “Never did get used to the taste of this. It's strangely refreshing and unpleasant at the same time. Can't help but feel sorry for someone who lived their life in such a way that people are happier that they're dead.” He walks with Lev through the apartment levels, still tasting the absinthe and feeling it's burn as it goes down.\n\t“I hope none of the customers upstairs ventured down here. They're not supposed to. Sometimes people get so trashed that they end up in the hallway of our apartments!” He takes the bottle, holding it to his chest, then stops midway at the stairs. “Rath did a lot of good in his early years. You could say that none of us would be here if it weren't for him. Well, we'd just move to Aigua or back to our villages. At some point, he stopped helping people and became fixated on the shop upstairs, so much that he stopped caring about anything else. Everything has been in shambles ever sense, leaving it up to the four medians here to mentor the few hundred demons living here. He became a drunk and abandoned us all. So yes, I'm glad he's dead. Last month was the first time I ever heard about Drew, you know. I find that crazy. Drew and I had so much in common, lived in the same hallway, but never met. I mean, how is that even possible? It's almost as if something was blocking our minds off from connecting with each other...” He puts the bottle to his head, taking another swig. His tail wags as he tries to remember what he was about to say. “He said that I would end up like Drew. That I'd kill people and end up with my head on the block just like him. That I might as well just kill myself so I don't do any harm. He was a drunken bastard. A cowardly man. But I digress.” Lev continues walking down the stairs, stopping at the last door at the end of the hallway.\n\tAs they walk, Aldan wraps an arm around Lev's shoulders. “Yeah, I did meet him once. Drew stopped me from killing him behind the bar up there. It would make sense that whatever the shadow is that whispers to you wouldn't want you and Drew to talk. The more alone you are, the more the shadow can influence. It's probably really pissed that you have friends. Fuck it, more than friends. A second family.”\n\tAldan looks back along the hallway. Remembering his brief attempt to get Drew's father to visit his son.\n\tLev jokes, “Should I knock or just burst in again?”\n\t“I think we should knock.”\n\tThe boy sticks out his long wolf tongue. “Alllllright....” He knocks on the door with his bottle. A seconds later, Holt opens it. The blonde demon boy is sitting on his coffee table playing a harp that's as tall as he is.\n\tHolt looks to the two of them, giving a faint smile. “Hello, Lev and... Aldan, is it? What brings you along?”\n\tLev pauses for a second, then gasps. “Crap! I was going to get my tea from my Grandma before I came over! Well, I had to stop by to get my medicine, but I also wanted to chat one on one with Aizen if I can. You and Aldan can have some alone time too, if you'd like.”\n\tHolt raises a brow to Aldan, trying to decide whether he will do so or not. “Aizen is just finishing up his practice work. You may enter. And Lev, thanks for knocking this time.”\n\t“No problem!” He shouts proudly as the two of them enter.\n\tAldan enters. He removes his sword, leaving it near the door. Moving to the table, he takes a chair, watching Aizen manipulate his harp. “To this unrefined ear, that sounds pretty good, Aizen. Holt. How are the two of you? Any ill effects?”\n\t“I've been fine.” Aizen pauses his practice, going for a mug of water before he walks to his closet. “Tomorrow, I have a small solo concert for my school. It's at the library that you always go to, Lev. I'm supposed to play three original compositions, so I rented this beautiful, but tiresome instrument and started to compose for it. Hopefully the Goddess Learo will help me overcome my performance anxiety!”\n\t“You have to compose three original pieces before tomorrow?” Aldan seems incredulous.\n\t“It's fine. I won't sleep tonight anyway. Plus I've been feeling very inspired today.” Aizen pulls out a robe and fundoshi, throws it to Lev, then grabs some of his own clothing. “You haven't bathed yet, have you? We can have our chat if you'd like. Are you ready, Lev?”\n\tLev jumps in excitement. “Oh, yes! We'll be on our way! Give us thirty minutes. Is that enough?” He looks to Holt and Aldan for permission.\n\tAldan nods to Lev. He looks to Holt. “Is it alright if I wait here? I don't feel comfortable in the shops upstairs.”\n\t“Oh, I understand. You may go, my love.” Holt gives his nod for them to leave and the two demons exit quickly. “He really has been fine since the incident. I've kept my eye on him and we've had a bit of a talk. I wouldn't worry too much. He's taking a lot of his emotions out on the music he's creating. I think you should come tomorrow. It'll be very special... Someone is going to write a review about it in the papers. He wants to do something revolutionary, but I'm trying to calm him down from doing anything too extreme.” Holt is still dressed in his suit and armor, sword arranged to his side.\n\t“Good luck with that. Our demon-boys seem to thrive on extremes.” Aldan watches Holt. The way he moves and how he carries himself. The young elf reminds him of another elf he knew when he was young. Realizing that he's staring, he coughs and looks around the apartment. “It must be rather cozy here for the two of you.”\n\t“It's small, but I think it works for us. Having it like this makes sure that we don't hide from each other. We're always together, always close... Everything I do is for him.” Holt takes the half full bottle of absinthe from off of the counter, grabs two glasses from the kitchen, and fills both of them a third of the way up. 'This is for us, right?”\n\tAldan looks at the door. “It is now.” He chuckles. “I think he meant to share it with Aizen. I don't think he'd mind if we each had a glass. So, Lev has described you and Aizen as \"super duper in love.\" How did you meet?”\n\tHe takes a small sip from his glass. “Had I not told you? We met out in the forest. Aizen had traveled alone from home to come here. The same way that we met we had made a pact to stay true to each other forever. It was some kind of demon marriage ritual.”\n\t“They don't really seem to marry other demons, do they?” Aldan laughs. “I can't complain, though.” He stands and retrieves his sword, sitting back down and laying it on the table. “You're a warrior, obviously.” He looks at Holt's sword and points at it. “Do you mind?”\n\tHolt unsheaths his blade and hands it over. “I think you and I are exemptions. You know... The performance that Aizen is doing is being dedicated to Drew. They were very good friends growing up. I'm sort of afraid that he's showing symptoms of depression and I won't be enough to help him through it. He probably needs a professional.” He crosses his arms, waiting for his approval. “It was a gift I was given on my first day of duty.”\n\tAldan stands and unsheathes the blade. He examines the finish, the workmanship of the blade and hilt. He holds it out it front of it, feeling it's weight. He lets the blade dip, twisting his wrist and letting the blade travel in a circle until it returns to his original position. “Very nice. Superb balance. You fight with finesse. It's a declaration more than a question. We should practice together sometime. Since I'm not longer a guardsman, I'll need someone to practice with to preserve my skills.”\n\tHolt takes his bad, putting it back in place and walking past him. “We have a room specifically for that, if you believe it. If you're not too tired, maybe you can teach me a thing or two?” He opens the door, leading the way.\n\tAldan takes his sword and rebelts it. “I'm tired, but I don't think any foe would let me rest. Practice when you can, so that you can fight when you must.” He follows Holt. He flexes and stretches his arms and shoulders as they walk. “Is sword your best weapon? Or do you prefer the bow or spear?”\n\t“I'm best with a bow, but good with a sword too.” He leads the way halfway up the stairs, then into the labyrinth of various rooms. In some of them, there are people meditating. He stops, pointing to one door. “This is where Lev and Aizen are right now. We're a little bit further away.” He goes further down the hall, opening a white door. The room is massive and the walls are blood red. Candles are still lit from whoever was last in to practice. There are dozens of weapons hung from the walls. The carpet is as soft as the finest grass. Holt stretches out his legs, unsheathing his blade again, then points it to his left side at an archery target. “From this distance, I can hit the bullseye with my eyes closed every time.”\n\tAldan nods. “Impressive. I'm adequate with a bow. Perhaps you could give my boy, Bryan, some lessons? He's intent and being well rounded as a warrior. I can teach him well enough with a sword, but a bow is another matter.” He unsheathes his own blade. “Rules?”\n\t“Rules... Hmm.” Holt thinks. “No killing and no limbs being cut off. Are those good? We're just messing around, but I think you'll forgive me if I accidentally draw blood from you.” He bends his legs, holding the sword straight out as he levels it towards the man, concentrating on how he will respond.\n\tAldan takes a pair of low swings as he moves into position, warming up. “Why do all the devastatingly handsome boys want my blood?” He grins at Holt and nods. “Let us begin.” With that, he shifts into a defensive stance. He keeps the grin, as he slowly circles to his left. Counter to what Holt would expect from a right-handed swordsman.\n\tHolt slowly moves his blade upwards, following his steps as he moves in closer. He doesn't want to take the first swing out of fear of messing something up.\n\tAldan watches Holt as Holt studies him. “Would you like to talk as we spar? Or do prefer silence?”\n\t“Doesn't matter to me.” He takes this as his advantage, moving in and swinging his blade to swipe Aldan's blade to the left, bringing it down as he does so, but is then countered back as the trained warrior swings back with just as much strength. Holt defends himself from the second swing as he stands back up, settling back into his original stance.\n\tAldan feints to his right, moving left instead and aiming low. Holt shifts parries the blow, their swords ringing out as the clash. Aldan waits less than a second before moving in again the same low attack. When Holt blocks him, he redirects to a higher attack, which Holt also blocks.\n\tHolt turns his second block into a riposte, stabbing at Aldan's torso. Aldan moves back as he settles into his position. Holt is fast and nimble. “Very nice.”\n\t“You're going easy on me, aren't you?” Their blades continue to clash. Holt is beginning to work up a sweat and his body is tired from working all day, but he's having too much fun to be tired by now. When Aldan moves in to attack towards his stomach, he does a high back flip, landing right on his sword, then stepping up with one step and swinging his blade to Aldan's head. It's countered and hit heavily, which knocks Holt down to the ground. Aldan goes to the \"kill\", but Holt rolls out of the way seconds before the ground is pierced, jumping back up into position. “My blade wouldn't have touched you even if you hadn't blocked that. Wouldn't expect any less from a man who has fought in wars.”\n\t“You've fought in anger, I'm sure. I can see it in your technique.” Aldan feints left, the feints right, as he has been the entire session. Instead of attacking, he waits a split second for Holt to react to the second feint then attacks from the left. He moves quickly and when Holt brings his sword up to counter, he feels the edge of Aldan's blade against the back of his neck. “That would be a killing blow. Agreed?”\n\t“Yes, it would.” Holt backs off, stepping down on one knee and bowing before standing back up. “Your moves are simple, but so perfect and swift. Here I am jumping around like a monkey.” He laughs. “Do you know what Aizen's preferred weapon is?”\n\t“Magic? Fire?” Aldan sheathes his blade, taking a fresh towel from a stack by the door and wiping his face. “I haven't seen him with any weapon.”\n\tHolt walks to him, finding a towel of his own to wipe his face and arms down with before he sheaths his sword. He throws it into a basket, then opens the door, leading the way. “A dagger. He has a sword and staff as well, but prefers to use a blade just an inch larger than your hand. Can you imagine defending yourself in the forest with something so small?”\n\tAldan walks beside Holt. “I've had to use only a dagger to defend myself. In the right hands, a dagger can beat a sword. I'm not surprised though. Given his love of music and art, a smaller weapon, easier to use makes sense.”\n\tAs they walk out of the labyrinth of rooms Holt changes discussion to something more serious. “Aldan... What was your first battle like? How old were you when you first went? I'm only thirteen and feel as if I might be going into battle by the end of the year.”\n\tAldan is startled at Holt's admission. “Really? The end of the year? Against whom?”\n\tHe looks surprised and confused. “Do you not know of what's going on in the forests right now? How the people of Cruiburg have begun slaughtering more than sixty villages in the past few years? Thousands of non-humans have died. It's why I've been put to train others on combat in the forest, tracking, and other important survival tactics. The king had been holding off on it for the past year, but it's obvious that he's preparing for it, especially since Prince Asher had convinced him of this wars importance.”\n\tAldan frowns. “I've heard rumors, of course. I didn't realize that war was so close.” He slaps his hand against his thigh. “Dammit. It make sense. They've always been a brutal people, especially to anyone who wasn't human.” He looks at Holt “But you're not in the King's army. I've never seen you in uniform.”\n\t“I'll have to fight so that I can protect my people and Aizen's as well. They were able to withstand their first attacks, but who knows how long it will be until they come back with more men.” Holt leads him downstairs, back to the hallway, and to the apartment room, which is still empty. “More absinthe?”\n\tAldan holds his hands up and shakes his head. “I still have to get home tonight. If you have any wine, that would suit me better.” His face grows serious. “If you're set on fighting, it's a good thing we're talking. I'd like to teach you as much as we can before war erupts. I may have to go with you. I'll have to wait and see what troops are called to muster. Anything I can do to help, name it.”\n\tHolt sighs. “No wine. Sorry. I'd appreciate anything you can teach me. In the meantime, I guess we should wait for the two of them to come back to us...”\n\n\tAs Holt and Aldan went to spar and get to know one another better, the two young demons left upstairs for the baths. They speedily head through the maze of hallways and rooms until they reach the enormous dimly lit bath house. It's almost completely vacant as of now; an older couple has taken one of the baths nearby the door. Lev points to one of the far opposite side and strips off his clothes quickly, settling himself inside of the warm black water that smells like chai spices and vanilla soap. He swims over to one side, sitting down in the Jacuzzi-like bathtub and relaxes his muscles. “I've missed taking baths here. The one at Aldan's house is just too small and the room is so awkward. Maybe I'm just a bit homesick?”\n\tAizen climbs into the baths and settles in to the warm, relaxing waters. He sits near Lev, leaning back against the edge of their tub, his legs stretched out in front of him. “Why do you take baths at Aldan's?”\n\t“Because I like doing it with Bryan, now that he's my boyfriend and all.” He blushes, his tail sticking straight up out of the water before settling back down.\n\tAizen is absent minded, tapping out the beat of one of his new compositions on the surface of the water. He looks over at Lev, smiling broadly and slides closer, loosely grabbing his friend's arm “Boyfriend? Really? Tell me everything! Everything.” He looks around, frowning after a moment. “Didn't you have a bottle of absinthe for us?”\n\t“I left it downstairs. Uhm... Well, you met him yesterday. He's a cutie, a younger version of his father. He has a horse that he calls Whirlwind, which looks like the ones you have from where you're from. He's a year younger than you, but his dick is an inch bigger than yours.” He sticks out his tongue.\n\tAizen wrinkles his nose and sticks his tongue out. “Why are you measuring my dick?” He laughs. “He's cute, I agree. You've seen his dick? You've bathed together? Or more?”\n\t“You're the one that yelled out \"Suck my three incher!\" when Aldan and I walked in your room that one day.” He nudges him on the shoulders, then descends to the bottom of the water, rising up to start rubbing the soap into his skin. “Of course I've seen his dick if we've bathed together. We've had sex too.”\n\tAizen's eyes go wide with surprise. He dips beneath the water, rising and wiping his hair from his face. Reaching behind him, he takes a sponge and soap and begins washing. “Sex? Really? He's so young. Even as a human he's young, no?”\n\t“Is he? I don't know. Aren't there plenty of older people that marry people our age? It's not like he's stupid or anything. He's probably smarter than me!” He reaches for the silver bowl next to the bath, grabbing his own sponge.\n\tAizen shrugs as he reaches one arm straight into the air. He washes his arm. “Lev, smell my armpit and let me know if I need to wash it.” He says with a serious face.\n\tLev doesn't need to move in order to smell him with his half-wolf senses. “You're a dork. You won't get body odor for a long time to come.” He stands up on the ledge with the water to his knees, scrubbing away at his lower legs, genitals, and ass, before falling right back into the bath and swimming over to the side by Aizen.\n\t“I know. I just wanted to see if I could get you to smell my pit.” He sticks his tongue out, “I forget some times that you're part wolf. Well, Holt and I are both young and we're married. Not officially, but we made our own ritual. We'll die if we betray each other. I don't know about humans, though. They don't really think things through sometimes. If Aldan finds out about you two, he might get angry, and we need his help. Have you and Ryan? Sean? What's his name again? Have you used the \"L\" word?”\n\t“The L world?” He looks confused. “His name is Bryan. You don't have to worry about his Dad because...” Lev gets really up close to him and whispers, “He did it with the two of us.” He then swims back over to the bowl, grabbing a bar of soap as he begins to clean his tail. “But I don't think I want to do that again. I just want it to be him and I. Maybe we can do the ritual too some day, but I feel like I should wait a few months or a year first.”\n\tAizen's jaw falls open. He stares at Lev for a moment, two moments, three moments. He blinks and shakes his head. “All three of you together??? How was it? Wait. It must have been bad if you don't want to do it again. How did that happen?” He stands in the water, lightly scrubbing his stomach and chest, as well as his privates.\n\t“It wasn't bad. If anything, it was great! At first, I just wanted Aldan to show us how to do it in the butt.” He giggles at himself immaturely. “Of course, things got out of hand. I don't want to do it again because I only want Bryan, nobody else, just like how you only want to be with Holt, you know?” He puts his bar of soap back into the bowl, relaxing in the bath up to the tip of his shoulders. “I still think it's wild that you and Holt were able to commit to the marriage ritual so quickly. I think it was the same for Aldan and his husband... They just felt destined for each other. If I'm unsure and want to take things slow, does that mean my love isn't pure or destined?”\n\tAizen dunks himself again, rinsing himself. He surfaces and swim, floats next to Lev. He crosses his legs and sighs, “I love Holt. More than anything. And when we have sex or make love or fuck, it's incredible. But there are times that I fantasize. I think that's normal? Even if we did find someone we both liked, I don't know what we'd do. It's fun to think about sometimes.” He reaches over, laying a hand on Lev's shoulder. “Love is weird sometimes. When I first sensed Holt, first smelled him and sensed his spirit, it was as if I was discovering something that I'd lost so long ago that I'd forgotten about it. He was so familiar, so comfortable. The ritual seemed so obviously the thing to do. He felt it too.” He pauses and purses his lips. The tip of his tail sways. “Just because it's a little different for you and Bryan doesn't mean that you're less meant to be together. It doesn't make your love not pure. It just means your path is different. Lev, you also have the shadow to worry about. Maybe that's why you can't commit right away like we could. It would make sense.”\n\t“Yeah...” He nods with a frown. “I mean, what if I do something bad like everyone says I'm going to do? For the longest time, everyone said that I was going to go on a rampage murdering people and now I've been told that I'll not only destroy the entire kingdom, but the world! So I'm scared of myself and also of hurting him.”\n\tAizen looks at Lev, sadness for his friend in his eyes. He leans over and hugs Lev. “I'm not scared of you, Lev. We'll figure it out. The shadow is worried that we will, so it might try to trick you somehow into doing something. Just remember your heart, remember how it feels to love your Bryan.” He smiles at Lev. “I'm performing in a concert tomorrow evening. I want you and Bryan to be there. Promise me you'll come. I think that as long as you keep Bryan and love in your heart, the shadow can't make you do the things everyone worries about. But!” He dances his fingers over Lev's arm as he talks. “There's nothing wrong with taking things slowly. Some songs have a quick beat.” He taps out a rapid rhythm on the surface of the bathwater. “Some are more slow.” He taps out a slow rhythm. “But every song is beautiful when played in it's own time.”\n\tLev's frown transforms into a pleasant smile, showing how proud he is to have such a supporting friend in a community that is mostly scared of him. “Thanks, Aizen. I promise that we will make it.”\n\tHe exhales, relaxing in the bath with his eyes closed until a woman enters the room, fully dressed in a robe. Her hair is crimson red and she's most likely around Aldan's age. The woman kneels down on her feet beside the bathtub and speaks. “Hello boys. I'm sure that you've already heard about Rath's passing?”\n\tLev nods. “Yeah. We heard. You're supposed to become the new high Lord, right?”\n\tShe stands up, walking over to grab them two towels and put them by the silver bowl. “It has already been done. If you'd like to give offerings to him, you would need to do so tonight because we are taking him out to be buried tomorrow. The shop will be closed for the next few days until we have things situated around here.”\n\tThe redheaded woman looks to the blonde-haired demon. O”h, Aizen? I almost forgot to mention that I've mentioned just about everyone tonight about your concert tomorrow. We're all very proud of how far you've come just in the short time span of living here.” She bows, then exits at her own leisure.\n\tAizen looks at Lev. He swallows hard. “Did she say everyone? How many people do you think that is?”\n\t“I don't know. Aren't there around two hundred demons in our kingdom? It looks like you're going to be sold out and make tons of money!” He jumps out in excitement and starts wiping himself down with a towel.\n\tAizen climbs out of the tub and begins drying himself. “Two hundred? I was expecting twenty people, maybe thirty. You, Byran, Aldan, Holt. Some of the parents from school.” He sighs. “No pressure, Aizen. I guess I should practice more tonight. Will you stay for dinner with us?”\n[7:53:14 PM] Damien: Lev shakes his head, grabbing his robe with one hand as he wraps the towel around his waist. No. Sorry. I'm going back to Aldan's home to sleep with Bryan and then I have to go to school tomorrow. Are you going to be wearing those fancy human clothes at the concert?\n\tAizen dons his robe. “I don't think so. I have something nice that I made. I'll wear that, I think. You should talk to your Bryan. About anything that bothers you. That's what Holt and I do.” He smiles. “It's lucky that neither have to sleep more than a few hours a week.”\n\tThe two demon boys walk out of the hallways of mazes, which are uncommonly filled with many people who have come to give ritual offerings for the previous high lord that is now deceased. They make their way downstairs and Lev stops at his Grandparents door, tugging on Aizen's arm gently. “I have to grab my tea. Wait here for just a moment.”\n\tHe smirks. “But I'm just a few doors down from you?!?”\n\tLev rolls his eyes, rushing in and out of his and his Grandparents apartment in a matter of a few minutes, emerging back out in the hallway in a clean kimono robe, which is pure black, matching his hair and fur, his wolf ears, and tail. “Okay. I'm good!”\n\tThe two of them burst back into the apartment at the very end of the hallway and find Holt and Aldan sitting beside each other by all of Aizen's instruments. They've already pounded their way through most of the bottle and are laughing at each others drunken, horrible jokes. Aizen rubs his temple, trying to comprehend how they got through so much of the alcohol that fast. “Oh my... Now I have to take care of this drunken elf all night. He's going to be dizzy and seeing different colors even in the morning.”\n\tHolt and Aldan notice the two demon-boys. They put their glasses down, Holt adopting his 'innocent face' that Aizen knows well. Aldan seems in a little better shape, being heavier and more experienced as a drinker. Holt stands and points at Aizen. “That one is mine!” He walks unsteadily to his demon. “You are clean? I hope. Becaushe I am going to do thingsh to you that will make us both shcream.” He leans in to kiss Aizen, smelling of sweat and absinthe.\n\tAldan diverts his eyes and stands, holding his chair for a moment. He nods. And carefully moves toward the door. “I should wait a few minutes and drink some coffee, but I don't think....um, Holt! Yeah, Holt wants to wait for that.”\n\tAizen pushes him away for a second. “Get off of me, silly. No sloppy kisses in front of everyone else.” He takes him to the bed, tongue kissing him a bit more naturally, feeling under his shirt and armor as he makes out with him. “That's better. Now you can do all of those things you want to do to me.” He looks to Lev and Aldan. Lev's mouth is dropped in awe and he tugs on Aldan's belt, trying to drag the much larger and stronger man. “Come on. Let's go before they start going at it in front of us again!”\n\tAldan looks down. “Uh, don't grab me there. Unless you want to...I mean, I'm a little drunk...” He shakes his head, grabbing his sword and strapping it on. He looks back to Aizen and Holt. “They are. . . .beautiful, aren't they? We should go before. . . .yeah. . .”\n\t“Don't worry. They're always going at it. You'll catch them some other time.” Lev leaves the apartment, guiding Aldan back upstairs, through the closed shop, and out to the streets. “Are you going to know your way back home or do I need to help you this time?”\n\tAldan looks at Lev. “I thought you were staying over with Bryan?” He reaches out unsteadily and holds Lev's face with one hand. “He really needs you, you know. After Drew...” He looks at Lev and his eyes blur and lose focus. “Drew...” He stands silently for a moment and his eyes meet Lev's. “I have to save you. I don't know how yet. But I will, Lev. I will.” He struggles, obviously wrestling in his own mind. He runs a finger along Lev's jaw.\n\tLev looks at him awkwardly, confused. “Of course I'm coming back with you. I'd just be a little lost on my own is all.” He turns his head and continues walking his path, whistling to himself every now and then.\n\tThey walk, Aldan somewhat slower than usual. They're approaching the halfway point when he stops. “I have to know...what is Lev short for? Or is it just Lev, Lev?” He looks up, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth. “I don't mean is it short for Lev, Lev. Lev-Lev would be a strange name, even for a demon. I meant Lev, COMMA, Lev. See?”\n\t“It's just Lev. Is it weird?” He walks backwards in circles around him, quite noticeably sober and much more awake than him.\n\t“It's unushual. But you're unushual, too. Unique.” He watches Lev and smiles. “Why do I alwaysh love the elf and demon boysh? Ish that weird? It feelsh weird.”\n\t“It's not weird at all. I think the alcohol suddenly getting to you. That's what our absinthe does. You think it's just normal absinthe, but it works its spell.” He winks.\n\t“No. I loved you all before the abshinth.” He's suddenly serious. “It'sh like without Drew, I have all thish love and he'sh gone so I don't know what to do. I know I'll shee him again. He beckonsh Lev closer I liked fucking you and Bryan. It wash almosht ash good ash being with Drew.” He whispers. “I have to shave you. Bryan shouldn't feel the way I do.”\n\tLev is uncomfortable now, especially having him talk about him like this in public. There's not many people out and about nor would they be listening, but he can't help being somewhat bothered. “Aldan... I don't think I want to do what we did ever again. It felt great and I loved it, but I want to be only with Bryan. I don't want to hurt you, but it's just the conclusion that I've come to.”\n\tAldan nods. “I undershtand. No, no. I do. It'sh okay.” He looks stricken. “It'sh good, you know. You know why? Becaushe it meansh you really love him and that makesh me happy. I'm a big boy, Lev. I'll be fine. Don't you worry about me. I'll be fine.”\n\tThe two of them are quiet for the rest of the walk home, but Lev feels a little bit better now that he was able to get that off of his chest and leave it on good terms. They enter the pitch black house as quiet as mice. Lev forms a flame with his hand, leading Aldan to the door of his room. “I'll see you tomorrow morning. Are you going to start working tomorrow at the school or just get to know everyone?”\n\t“I don't know yet. “He yawns “I'll wait to shee how I feel.”\n\t“Okay. I'll see you either way. Good night.” He hugs him before he heads up the stairs and makes his way into Bryan's bedroom. The boy is asleep, hugging one of his pillows too. Lev smiles and thinks about waking up for a moment. He looks out the window towards the moon, then to where Whirlwind is, and back to his boyfriend. The brother will be home sometime tomorrow, whom he's excited to meet, but also equally nervous as well. He strips off his robe, propping it on a chair by Mikey's writing desk, then notices a stack of papers that weren't there before. Lev spreads them out on the table and reads through them rapidly. They're signatures. Maybe two hundred of them. Some of them even have text and letters in there with them. He stacks them back into place, walks back to the bed, and tucks himself in, thinking about what he just saw. They're signatures for a petition against the current law that's in favor of child executions. Bryan and his brother have probably been gathering these ever since Drew was executed. Lev remembers what Aldan said about how losing Drew had been hard on his son. The wolf-demon moves up closer, spooning him and holding him close, kissing his shoulders and neck before he pretends to fall asleep. By the time morning comes he's already downstairs and continues his cooking listens with the mother and sister. Afterwards, he makes coffee for them all, sets up the table, and waits patiently for breakfast to begin.\n\tAldan quietly moves into the sitting room. The embers of the fire still glow slightly. He pokes them, blows air on them to relight them, tossing a few sticks of kindling and a medium log on the revived fire. He pulls his chair closer. His tea from earlier still sits on the table. He takes a swallow. Cold tea. He's had worse. Pulling off his boots and jacket, he dumps them on the floor along with his sword. He watches the flames dance, stretching his feet closer to the heat. He stares at the fire, thinking of Drew. Everyone he loves, he can't have. His sorrow deepens as he remembers the words of his training sergeant all those years ago. \"Soldiers do not cry. Soldiers do not cry.\" Whispering to the night, Aldan reminds the night. 'I'm not a soldier any more.' He holds his face in his hands and cries.\n\n\tThe next morning, he wakes to Lev's rummaging in the kitchen. He goes to the back door, to the well, drawing a bucket full of water and dumping it over his head. He shakes it back and forth before returning to the kitchen. “I really need coffee, Lev.”\n\t“Done and done.” He hands him the warm cup of coffee, smiling at him brightly. “I think it's the best I've made all month! Have at it! Man... When is Bryan going to be up? I don't want to wake him out of his beauty sleep.”\n\tAldan takes a long drink. “Mmmm. That's very good. Thank you. I have to clean up, but if you let him, Bryan will sleep until noon. Go ahead and wake him up.” Aldan heads upstairs with his coffee.\n\tLev sighs, walking back over the girls. “All of this work done and they can't even respect us! Oh, and I almost forgot to ask! When is the other son coming home? I forgot his name...”\n\tAldan calls from the base of the stairs, “Milliken. Did you want me to wake Bryan?”\n\t“Yeah! Go ahead!” He yells. He helps set the food on the table, getting a big piece of raw liver for breakfast.\n\tFive minutes later, the sound of pounding feet echoes from upstairs. It's easy for Lev's sensitive hearing to follow the progress. Bedroom. Hallway. Stairs. Bryan tears around the corner, pausing just long enough to see his wolf-boyfriend. He charges into Lev, grabbing him in a huge bear-hug, toppling the two of them onto the floor. Bryan begins kissing Lev's face. “I missed you last night! Missed you, missed you, missed you. You should have woke me up!” He kisses Lev hard on the lips, slipping his tongue into Lev's mouth.\n\tSally quietly asks her mother, “Are they getting married?”\n\tKate shakes her head. “I have no idea anymore, dear. Keep stirring.”\n\tBryan suddenly pulls away from Lev. He spits on the floor, sticking his tongue out and wipe his sleeve along its length. Seeing Lev's face, he gawks, “Raw liver????”\n\t“It's super healthy for you!” Lev moves his seat closer to Bryan's before he sets down so that he can let his tail lay in his boyfriends lap. “You don't have to watch me eat it. I know it's weird to humans.” He puts his coffee cup in between their plates. “You can drink from my cup, you know.” He kisses him on the lips once, bumping shoulders with him. “I didn't want to wake you up. It just seemed like the wrong thing to do if you're going to school today. Plus, I need you to be wide awake for tonight.”\n\tBryan's eye go wide and he his mouth drops open. He begins to blush. I... I... uh. . .Lev.. ..uh.”\n\tKatey plops two fresh biscuits on Bryan's plate, along with two plump sausages, two fried eggs. Sally follows with a heavy skillet ladles gravy over the biscuits. She looks at Lev. “Do you want gravy or anything, Mr. Lev?”\n\t“Not like that, Bry!” Lev elbows him. “I'm fine ma'am. Actually, my friend Aizen will be playing live at the concert house tonight for his school. You're all invited to come along. It's only three silver coins for entry! He's a genius musician, only eleven years old, and learns instruments the second he touches them! You have to come tonight. It would mean the world to him.”\n\t“Oooohhh!” Bryan blushes more I knew that. He rips into his breakfast, cutting the sausage and combining it with egg, biscuit, and gravy in one huge bite. Gravy dribbles on his chin. As he chews, his mother puts a glass of milk in front of him.\n\t“You have the table manners of drunken monkey, Bryan.” She sighs. “Are you sure there's more you'd like Lev? I have a sausage or two that are still raw.”\n\tBryan laughs, covering his mouth with one hand. He leans over to Lev. “I have one, too.” Lev feels biscuit pieces against his cheek.\n\tLev uses to his tail to go through his boyfriends pants, under his garments, and tickles around his genitals as he speaks freely. “I'd love some raw sausage.” He licks his fingers clean after devouring the piece of liver, drinking from his coffee cup to clear his palette, then plays footsie next to Bryan as his tail exits out of his pants.\n\tBryan smiles and continues eating. Happiness and horniness radiant from him like he's a little sun.\n\tAldan fairly trudges into the kitchen, his coffee cup empty. He looks better, freshly shaved, and changed into clean clothes. He smiles at everyone and Sally runs to him and he grabs her in a hug. “How's my best little girl today?” Looking at Kate. “And my best big girl?”\n\tLev finishes his plate quickly, reaching under the table with his right hand as he slips it into Bryan's pants, tugging on his hard pecker as his boyfriend eats. “Today is the start of a new life, huh Aldan?” He continues to rub at it until everyone has sat down at the table.\n\tThe family exchanges small talk until Aizen's concert comes up. 'Is there an occasion? A holiday for your people, Lev?”\n\tLev shakes his head. “No, no. We don't have a holiday for another month. He's just doing it because he has to for school. Well, it's what he wants to do with his life...” He stands up, stretching out his back, then takes his plate to the sink and cleans it. Afterwards, he stands beside Bryan and waits for him to finish his food. “We're going to be late for school soon! That's what happens when you drink a bottle of absinthe in less than an hour, Aldan.”\n\tAldan gets a look on his face. Almost panic. As quickly as it appears, it's gone. “Um, Holt drank his share. I didn't drink the whole bottle.”\n\tKate looks at him, arching her left eyebrow. “So, that's why you were out all night.”\n\t“I slept downstairs all night. I didn't want to wake you. I had a few drink with Holt, the elf husband of Aizen.”\n\tShe shakes her head. “Men.”\n\tAldan breathes a sigh of relief and looks at Lev.\n\tBryan Devours the rest of his breakfast, rushing upstairs to grab his books and chalk tablet. As he's thumping about upstairs, Aldan finishes his coffee and moves into the sitting room. He's dressed in normal clothes, no uniform and tugs at his collar and rolls his shoulders every few moments. Grabbing his sword, he stares at it for a long time. As Bryan begins jumping down the stairs, Aldan tightens his sword belt and sighs comfortably. He looks at Lev. “It feels strange to be out of uniform. Without the sword is too much. I'll leave it in the office when I'm working with the kids.”\n\tThe three of them prepare to leave, Bryan kissing his mother, and Aldan kissing Kate and the younger children. Kate gives Bryan and Aldan each a small basket, and Lev a small clay pot sealed with bee's wax. She pats Lev's shoulder gently. “And I didn't forget you.”\n\t“Thanks, Katy.” Lev blushes and bows to her, before following his boyfriend and Aldan outside to the front of the house. “Your mom is so much nicer than my Grandma.”\n\tAldan and Bryan both nod. Bryan smiles. “She's a great mommy. I'm glad you like her. I don't think she'll mind when we ask her to let you move in.”\n\tAldan whistles. “I don't know about that. We've got your little brother coming. Adding Lev too. You should leave that to me, Bry. We have to see how you and Mikey get along, too.” He glances at Lev. “How do you feel about scholars?”\n\tBryan laughs and elbows Lev. “Scholars who never stop asking questions until you tickle them and make them pee themselves.”\n\t“You often forget that I once wrote for the papers.” Lev says proudly, sticking his tongue out at his boyfriend.\n\t“Oh?” Bryan narrows his eyes at Lev. “Will you pee yourself if I tickle you enough?” He reaches for Lev's side, trying to tickle his ribs and under his arms.\n\tAldan grabs Bryan's shoulder and steers him away from Lev. “No pee-tickling before school!” He laughs. “You guys are a hoot.”\n\t“Fine, fine...” Lev uses his tail to tickle Bryan's back and under his shirt, holding him in a hug so that he can't be free from it. “What's wrong? What's so funny? You're not gonna pee, are ya?!?” As soon as he feels his boyfriends stiffie getting hard he stops, afraid that he might actually make him pee. They're at the point in they're walk where they have to part. “Oh man. It sucks we have to take opposite ways. Aldan and I might have to run anyway. He doesn't want to be late for his first day at the new job!” Lev pecks Bryan on the lips, tickling his side before he finishes it. “I love you. See you after school?”\n\tBryan leans into Lev's kiss, almost losing his balance as Lev pulls back. He takes Lev's hand for an instant. “Of course, silly. I'll meet you at your school when you get out.” He hugs Aldan, receiving a kiss on the cheek. Running down the road, he turns and waves. “I'm gonna make you pee!” He calls out, with several passers-by giving him a strange look as he disappears towards school.\n\t“Man. This is gonna be wild today. You're going to be the new counselor at my school! You do realize everyone there is absolutely crazy like me, right? The only reason we're not in prison is because we got away with an insanity excuse.” He smells his clay pot of food, licking his lips as his animal hunger grows. His ears twitch and he turns his head, hearing a fight break out from a third of a mile away, then turns to face Aldan again. “You and Jeremen will get along well, but our two teachers are just normal folks. They've never fought in any wars or anything, so I don't know if you'll like them as well.”\n\tAldan smiles. “You know, I can like someone who's not a stone-cold killer! I'm a man of many talents and mysteries.” He looks seriously at Lev. “Is there anything I need to know? About the other teachers or any of the kids? I know Jeremen will brief me, but you probably know a lot that he doesn't.”\n\tHe holds the clay pot with one hand as he pauses to think. “Hmm... I'd say to go easy on us and don't talk down on us like we're kids even if we are, because the only thing we need from you is to feel like we're actually being heard. That's my best advice.”\n\t“That makes sense. I found that with our inmates, too. At the end, many of them just wanted someone to listen and treat them like sentient beings, not monsters.” He looks down. “Even if they'd done monstrous things.”\n\tThey walk quietly through the crowded streets until they reach the school. Lev looks at his feet before he enters, which are a bit dirty. One of the teachers has left a bucket with a lid over it along with a cloth outside of the school by the front door for him, which he uses to clean his feet before he enters. All of the other kids are already present, and the two teachers are almost prepared to begin classes. Lev puts his food away in a tub, ushers Aldan into the small school, and takes place at his seat. \n\tOne of the teachers, a young woman with very short brown hair notices him and holds out her hand. “You must be Aldan. We saw you yesterday but didn't know that you would be our new school counselor. We wish you luck. Right kids?” They all respond with a 'right' or 'yes ma'am', some of them enthusiastic while others couldn't care less.\n\tAldan looks around the room. Spying the boy with green hair, he thinks of Dakota. Was that just yesterday? He nods and awkwardly waves. “I hope I can help.”\n\tThe other teacher, a young man in his early twenties, quite short and skinny, runs over to Aldan and the female teacher and greets him with excitement. “My name is Jack. I was once a student here. We feel so fortunate to have a new member to our family. I hope you enjoy being with us and that we get to know one another better as time goes on.” \n\tPrincipal Jeremen comes out of his office, slaps one hand over Aldan’s shoulder, and walks him to his office after greeting him. “Your room is much like his, except there aren't any books or artwork anywhere inside.” He shows Aldan the furniture in the room, pulls out the drawers of the desk, points at the case files for each student that are now his to keep. “So this is where you'll be working. Like I said, you'll speak with every student for about thirty minutes every day. All of their information is in the files, but I wouldn't go straight by that. It's best to get to know them first before you make any judgements on their characters. Some of these students have done some atrociously disgusting things, but it's not because they themselves are evil. No, quite the contrary. They were just on the wrong foot path and guided wrongly with no nourishment. We've had one hundred and twenty graduates come out of our school. It's a small school, so you can't expect much either way. Unfortunately, thirty-six of them didn't complete the program and repeated their past behaviors, committing even more serious crimes that lead them to the rope or block. That is the greatest tragedy of all, but I'm speaking to the choir, huh?” He laughs to diminish the seriousness of the conversation, patting him on the shoulder as he gets Aldan to touch the fine leather of his seat. “Pretty good office, huh? You can bring whatever you want in here. Take your time and just get yourself situated. Read over the files. Tomorrow the real work will begin. Any questions?”\n\t“Am I permitted to observe classes? In the prison, we'd sometimes take a prisoner who had showed remorse and contrition, and we'd make him a trustee. They'd have more privileges, a little more freedom.” Aldan is still examining his office. “I was wondering if something like that would work here?”\n\tJeremen walks over to the window and looks out as he answers. “Yes, you're allowed to observe classes. Do whatever you please. You will be having lunch with the students and teachers as well.”\n\t“Thank you, Principal Jeremen. I'll do my best to justify your confidence and to help the students. To help \"our\" students.”\n\t“Good. Good. I'll let you be then. Take as long as you like and feel free to leave or come back whenever you want. You may even start today if you feel as if you can do so.” He pulls out a cigar from a sleeve pocket, placing it on the desk. “A gift. Come by my office anytime you want.” The principal leaves the office elegantly, leaving the door open as well. \n\tAldan takes the cigar and smells it. It's a good smoke and he sets it in his desk draw for later. He looks out of his window, learning his view, opening the window for some fresh air. Sighing, he sits at his desk and looks through the files looking for a last name that matches Dakota's. He's nervous and excited.\n\tHe finds the green haired boys file, noted as Jay Codoc, eleven years old, admitted to the school half a year ago after running away from home for the third time and hiding out in the forest. He's been noted to have suicidal tendencies through the act of self-mutilating himself. Also says on his report that he was sexually abused by his Grandfather when he was seven, who was executed by hanging after being found guilty. There are follow up reports on many sessions, all of them showing that he has made no progress at all.\n\tAldan leans back in his chair. He taps a finger on his desk. “His grandfather. Dakota, did he do that to you, too? Is that part of your story?” He looks through his desk, searching for ink, quill, and paper.\n\tAldan stands and exits his office. He heads for one of the classrooms. Leaning against the door frame he watches the teacher and students, trying to learn what he can as they study and teach and talk. He makes mental notes on anything unique or distinguishing for the students.\n\tAll of the students seem pretty engaged into what they're learning. That is, except Lev, who's tail sways from side to side in boredom. They're reading a history book, which he has closed and rests an arm on. The teachers call on students to read from time to time and speak loudly and cheerfully. Even Jay seems surprisingly relaxed as he reads from his textbook. Some of the students notice Aldan, but none of them stare for too long. For a moment Aldan is surprised that any of these students would be considered deviant and having committed crimes.\n\tAldan listens to the history lesson, curious about they'll teach about the battles and wars he's been a part of. Quietly, he moves to the other classroom and observes. The room is small, only three students in it at the moment. All of the desks have been moved out of the way and the female teacher is sitting with them in a circle as they meditate in silence together. She notices him watching but pretends he’s not there as she guides them with breathing exercises.\n\tAldan does his best to quietly move back to his office. He takes Lev's file and sets it in front of him. He doesn't open it. Instead, he moves it to one side and takes the top file from the stack and begins reading through. He examines each file in order, keeping Lev's off to the side, until lunch.\n\tAt lunch, the once quiet school transforms into a explosion of loud conversations and gossip. All of the students gather into the main classroom, splitting into their typical three groups as they eat together. The teachers sit together as well, having their small talk and such. Lev sits with the green haired boy and a girl as he did the day before. Eventually, the principal stops by Aldan's office, knocking on the open door and asks if he wants to join the teachers for lunch. Aldan grabs his basket and follows Jeremen.\n\tJeremen leads Aldan to a wide desk that the teachers sit at. The girl speaks first. “I noticed you peaking in on our meditation session today. We do that once a week. We think it reinforces our students to learn how to better calm themselves by shutting off the worries in their mind and just focusing on the now. I never formally introduced myself, did I? My name is Raven.”\n\tAldan nods as he sits. “Good to meet you both. I served with a fella who meditated every morning and evening. What else do you teach, Mrs. Raven?”\n\tRaven finishes her food, putting it off to the side before she answers. “I do mathematics. Jack does history and literature. We try to spice up the stuff we teach if we can and ask students what they want to learn.”\n\tJack puts down a turkey leg before he asks, “Have you ever had any experience as a counselor? You don't look like a teacher. Look more like you just fought in a war to me!” He laughs at his own joke and Raven hits him on the shoulder.\n\tAldan unpacks his lunch and eats. Fried chicken, biscuits, cooked carrots, and a pecan-honey hand-cake. He tucks into the chicken, enjoying his wife's cooking. “Well, Jack, until yesterday I was a guard at the prison.” He points with a chicken leg towards the prison. “I've been regular army since I was a teenager. I've fought in most of the wars and rebellions of the last twenty years.” he looks at Jack. “When you get to recent history, I'd be happy to offer some perspective.”\n\tJack finishes his chicken leg, licking his fingers clean as he speaks with a full mouth. “Well, there's a lot of scholars out there that read books and think they know how to help people just from that, but then there's people like you who might have it all figured out by experience. I'm guessing that's the case for you.”\n\tAldan shrugs, “Depends on what you're talking about. War and fighting? I have training and experience. Dealing with convicts? More experience than training. Dealing with condemned? That's all experience and what I've taught myself.  “\n\t“Well, I wish you good luck.”\n\tRaven hits him on the shoulder again, reminder him that he already said that. Eventually lunch comes to an end and the students prepare for their next classes. Raven asks, “You want me to give a formal introduction to the students and let them know who you are? Make sure you're loud when you want their attention at first or else you'll never get them to listen to a word you say.”\n\tAldan nods. “I think that's a good idea. I'm not sure what to say. I don't want to scare them.”\n\t“Well, too bad.” She slaps him on the back as she walks up in front of the class. All of the students immediately look up at her. “Everyone! We have a new member in our family! Please give a warm welcome to the new school counselor, Aldan!” Everyone is still too busy pulling out their books to really hear or pay attention. Jack walks up beside her, crossing his arms, waiting for the students to pay attention.\n\tAldan leans over to Raven, whispering. “I could use my sword to get their attention, but I don't want to traumatize them?”\n\tRaven quickly puts her hand over her mouth, whispering back in a harsher tone. “No, don't do that! Just yell something like 'hey'.”\n\tAldan nods. He takes a step forward. He takes a deep breath. “GOOD AFTERNOON, STUDENTS!” He shouts with the voice of a 20-year veteran, projecting his voice to the furthest corners of the classroom. “MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE!”\n\tAll of the students immediately shut up, almost shitting themselves in surprise. One of the kids responds, “You have our attention!” A few others laugh in response.\n\tAldan relaxes, returning a more normal, father of four voice. “My name is Aldan and I'm the new. . .your new counselor. I'm here to help each of you as best I can. You're welcome to my office anytime.” He looks around. “If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer while we have a few minutes.”\n\tNobody raises up their hands or responds. Instead, the kids speak to each other in whispers. One the kids blurts out. “So we can see you whenever we want? Do we have to see you every day like our last counselor?”\n\tAldan tries to identify who spoke. He tries make eye contact. “Whenever you want, but I'll meet with each of you once a week. Every day would be too much. I don't even like me that much!” He grins at his own joke.\n\tRaven walks over to Aldan and hushes down the class. “Alright, alright. Now let's give Aldan a round of applause and then we'll be onto our ancient history studies.” Two of the kids groan and complain while the others clap. She smiles and licks her lips as he walks away. It's obvious that she has a crush on him.\n\tAldan pauses at the doorway. “I'll be in my office if anyone needs me. Thank you, Mrs. Raven for letting me interrupt your lesson.” He smiles and waves. He pops into the principal's office. “Excuse me, Jeremen, but do you happen to have ink, pen, and paper? I couldn't find any in my office.”\n\tJeremen steps out of his chair, looking around his table for a moment. “Sure. Everything alright?” He walks over to him and hands him a handful of pens, a closed container of black ink, and a stack of thick papers.\n\t“Everything's fine. If every day is like today, this will be the easiest job that I've ever had.” He smiles again, taking the supplies. “I just want to make a list of ideas for the children, working with them. As well as a reminder of things to bring from home.”\n\t“Alright. Well, I'll let you be.” He shuts his door as Aldan leaves. One of the students is already bugging a teacher about seeing him. Raven gives the go ahead and he follows along as Aldan walks to his office. The boy is chubby, short bright red hair, and wears glasses. He asks even before Aldan notices him following behind. “Uh, Aldan? Can I talk to you for a moment?”\n\t“Certainly.” He leads the boy into his office. “You can shut the door if you'd like, then take a seat and tell me your name.”  Aldan sits and once the boy tells him his name, he looks for the lad's file.\n\tThe boys name is Youenn Aubert, aged 14, placed into the school for repeatedly robbing from street vendors and for possessing starshatter after he was arrested. He lives with his mother as an only child. His report reads that he's made some progress but has had two incidents of relapse in the past. No history of abuse.\n\t“What can I do for you, Mr. Aubert?”\n\tThe redhead slumps down in his seat, twiddling his fingers as he looks around the room. “Uh... I don't know. I guess I just feel down in the dumps, ya' know?”\n\tAldan nods. “I think so. Is everything okay at home?”\n\tHe nods. “Yeah... We're pretty well off since my mother is a white mage.” My Dad died when I was really young in the last war, so I never really knew him.\n\t“That must be hard. Just the two of you. Your mom probably has a hard time understanding how it is, being a boy and all.”\n\tHe sighs. “I guess the reason I wanted to talk is because I want to go back and use. I'm always thinking about it and if I get caught again, I'll have five years in the prison says the judge. What does it matter to him? I'm only harming myself.”\n\t“Yeah.” Aldan nods sympathetically. “Well, and your mom, too. Your friends maybe. But if you want to spend your allowance on that, why should the judge care?”\n\t“I know, right?” He pouts, locking his arms. “If I don't use starshatter for three months, then I can get out of this school and my charges and dropped, but what does it matter if I'm going to go back and get high anyway?”\n\t“If you can go three months without it, why go back and use again? Would you like it more in another school?”\n\t“I can't decide. This place is pretty cool and all.” Youenn sits up a bit straighter. “Then when I leave here and go back to my old school, I'll lose all of the friends and support I made here. It all seems so pointless.”\n\tAldan looks confused, “Why not just stay here and finish school with us?”\n\t“I don't know. You think you can ask Jeremen if I can?”\n\tAldan blinks and nods, “Sure. Do you think that would help you stay away from the starshatter?”\n\t“Maybe.” Youenn bites his lip, nervous. “Well, thanks for speaking to me. I think I'll get going back to class.”\n\t“Youenn…” Aldan says as the boy starts to leave. “Even if you can't stay here, you can still come and talk to me. I'll make time, okay?”\n\tYoueen nods with a grateful smile. “Okay. Thanks, Aldan! It's good to meet you.” He disappears from the doorway view for a moment, then peaks back in for a brief second. “Oh, and welcome to the family.” And then he runs back off to his desk.\n\tAldan sighs. It occurs to him that he had no idea what to say or do. He stands and goes to his window, staring out over the view. “Gods, Drew, help me. I don't have any flippin' idea what I'm doing. It was so much easier when they were in cells and couldn't leave.” He sighs and returns to his desk. Taking paper and ink, he makes small selection of carefully written notes and adds them to Youenn's file. Finished with that, he takes the top files and begins reading.\n\tAldan runs by Lev's file. All of the information in it that you already know is there. Thirteen, half demon, half wolf, both parents deceased, killing them in self-defense. History of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Sexually assaulted by six men when he was seven. Violent tendencies and sporadic outbursts. Lives with his Grandparents. Relationship with his people is strained. Placed into the school after attacking two students. If it weren't for his Grandparents pleading for him, he would have been placed into prison for five years. The previous counselor writes that not only has he not made any progress, but his issues have seemed worsen. She writes that he's the highest priority student. It's also written that he speaks a lot about being lonely, afraid of himself, and has a deep hatred for the king.\n\t“Well, we're making progress on the lonely part.” He shakes his head. “And none of us are fond of the king these days.” Aldan ponders the boy-wolf. “Does he have issues with his temper because of what the shadow does to him? Or is the shadow drawn to him because of his anger? Are they even related.” He thinks back to the genocidist. A wound to the chest may drive the shadow forth.\n\tTime passes, but nobody comes by. It seems like all of the students are too busy in their studies or too shy to speak at the moment.\n\tAldan makes a short list of things to bring from home for his office. He begins trying to come up with some sort of priority system for the students. He starts by reviewing their case files and sorting them into piles. One pile for seriously at-risk students, like Lev. Students that could readily pose a danger to themselves and others. Another pile for students that seem to be recovering and might soon be considered to return to their 'normal' schools.  A pile for students who aren't dangerous, but who would be put at risk returning to a normal school.\n\tAfter an hour of reading and filing, with boredom setting in, Aldan visits the two classrooms. He stands at the door, just watching. He pays some extra attention to Lev and to Jay.\n\tAs always, Lev sits in class with his book closed, bored as usual. Jay sits beside him, just barely able to pay attention. He looks like a tired zombie. Raven is walking around the classroom, looking at the student’s progress on their science homework.\n\tAldan chews on the inside of his cheek as he watches Lev and Jay. He tries to imagine what must go through their minds at times like this. Bored with school. Poor kids. Suddenly he stands and heads back to his office. He retrieves Jay's file and goes through it.\n\tAldan puts Jay's file with Lev's. His top priorities among the students right now. Glancing out the window, he thinks for a moment. The prison runs on a set schedule. Soon, Gerald, the Warden, will taking his afternoon coffee. That would be the best time to make his proposal.\n\tAldan informs the principal of his plan, and with permission, heads over to his former place of employment. Force of habit almost takes him back the guardroom, his guardroom, but he winds his way through corridors and up stairways until he arrives at the warden's office. He asks the attendant outside for a moment of Gerald's time. Then, with an effort, Aldan relaxes. After all, he's here as an educator, not an underling.\n\tA few minutes pass before the warden exits his office, dressed in his armor and uniform, looking to Aldan with a confused grin. He's a bit old, maybe in his sixties, but very healthy for his age. He pauses before he speaks. “Your commander says that you up and quit yesterday. I thought to myself, 'Aldan? One of my best guards quitting?' It must be true by the way that you dress.” He walks over to a table by his office, filling up his cup of coffee as he walks back into his office. It's dark inside, cluttered and small, the polar opposite of what principal Jeremen's office is like. “What seems to be the deal, Aldan? Want your job back? I can make that happen. Need more money? Different shifts? Come. Sit down.” He has to squeeze in between his desk and files just to get through to his chair.\n\tAldan sits down. “That's very good of you, sir. But just can't do it anymore. The kids. I can't. But that doesn't mean I don't want to do my bit. Just that my bit has changed since yesterday.”\n\t“Ahh... What is it that upset you so much yesterday?” He leans back in his chair, lighting a cigarette as he stares at you.\n\t“I oversaw a boy yesterday. And he seemed just a boy who'd made some fucked up choices. Sold and used starshatter. Killed another who bought and couldn't pay. But, he wasn't evil.” Aldan leans forward I understand the law. “But next was ten-year-old girl. I just can't do it anymore. I have to try and get to them before they're coming here to have their heads lopped off.” Aldan pulls his finger across his throat.\n\t“A ten-year-old girl?” He exhales smoke from his nostrils. “There is no such person in the prison fitting that description. Your commander must have been playing with you.”\n\t“He picked a poor time for such a joke.”\n\t“Yes, he did. What was his name again?”\n\t“Commander Joshua?”\n\tAldan nods. “Yes, sir.” Aldan stands. “It's a good thing I resigned. Otherwise, I'd be looking at arrest for striking an officer...What kind of officer lies to his men about something like that?” He paces, agitated, angry. “Gods damn him for a fool! We're not playing a game down there.”\n\t“No, we're not... Sit down, Aldan! You're driving me mad walking around like that. We'll pay Joshua a visit after we're done speaking. Now you said you still want to do your bit. What do you mean by that?”\n\t“I’m sorry, sir.” Aldan sits. “We'll I've landed at the school next door. As a counselor. Someone for the students to talk to, so they don't end up here, hopefully. I was thinking that perhaps a deal could struck where I could come in and talk to some inmates. The younger ones. The children. To try and make their last time easier? Maybe help them reconnect with what was taken from them that made them do whatever ended them up here. Essentially, what I've always done, except I won't be helping kill them at the end.”\n\t“I see. Congratulations on the new job then. You know, there's nothing wrong with rethinking what you want to do with your life. We can only be warriors on the battlefield for so long, right? Or else we’d just be like Cruiberg. So you'd like to be a counselor of such for them like they have in the other kingdom...” He spins his chair to the other side, pulling out an application paper and sliding it over to him. Gerald puts out his cigarette, grabbing a pen and a tray of ink as well. “We've always had this job open, but nobody has taken it. You wouldn't be making as much money as you did though.”\n\tAldan nods. “Well, I'm sure we can come some fair agreement on that. I wouldn't expect to make as much, sir. I wouldn't be here ten hours a day, after all. And if it works well, there's always bonuses and perks”. His face goes serious. “But what of Joshua, sir? The next most senior man down there after me is Lt. Davyth. He's no fan of Joshua's either and when he finds out that the commander induced me to resign on a lie, you may lose him, too.” He shakes his head in disgust. “A man like that doesn't deserve your trust, sir. Pardon me if I'm speaking out of turn.”\n\t“Hold your tongue on Joshua for a moment. We'll get to him momentarily.” He lights another cigarette, looking over the application again before turning it over to him. “You know, I've heard the rumors around the prison that you found your husband in one of our cells a few months ago. I don't quite understand it completely, but I trust you, Aldan, because you have always been a loyal and honest worker with me. It makes sense now that you would want this job.”\n\t“The rumors are true, sir.” Aldan contains his sorrow in speaking of Drew, maintaining his mask of professional soldier. “One of the convicts. Drew, the demon lad. We. . .were very happy for a very, very short time. I did my duty with him. As husband and guard. As lov . . .” He catches himself. “Excuse me, sir, as friend and executioner. I see things a little differently, sir. I guess for some men it's growing old that changes them. Or losing a child. Or drink, for the unlucky. For me, it was love.”\n\t“I'm sorry for your loss and what you had to go through, regardless of the crimes he committed. Now let's go over this application.” He uses the pen to point at different bullets on the paper and goes through them with him. “The job would require that you oversee the wellbeing of anyone held by us under the age of eighteen sentenced to execution. You would give them therapy, make sure their needs are being met, whether it's food or clothes or hygiene, if they are trying to contact their family, etcetera. There are never any more than nine in our prison under the criteria and never any less than three. It should keep you busy. You will not help in the executions like you did before, but it is suggested that you observe the executions for their wellbeing. But this is only a suggestion. You can sign here and here, and I will have you hired now. You can begin working tomorrow. Any questions?”\n\t“Rate of pay, sir? And who do I answer to about the prisoners?”\n\tHe flips open to a different page to check. “Thirty silver an hour. You'll answer to the other guards, their commander, or me.”\n\t“I know the routines and regulations better than most of the other guards. And the watch commanders, too. If they give me latitude and work with me, I don't think we'll have any troubles, sir.” Aldan signs. “But if one of them hurts a prisoner without just cause or tries to start something. . .”\n\t“If one hurts a prisoner, you will come to me and we will take care of the situation appropriately. Now onto Joshua.” He lets his cigarette hang from his mouth as he goes through other papers. “Ah hah... He's on duty right now. Row D where the women are held. Let's pay him a visit, shall we?” He stands up, grabbing his sword and attaching it to his waist belt. He can't help but to laugh as he tries to squeeze his way out of the office again.\n\tAldan stifles his laugh behind his hand. Checking his own sword belt, he falls in behind the warden. It doesn't occur to him at first that he doesn't have to follow two steps behind and one to the left. It's ingrained.\n\tThe commander walks in front towards the main center hall, where many of the guards greet and bow to him. They make their way into D hall quickly. Gerald goes through a sleeve pocket for his master keys and walks by each cell carefully, trying to find Joshua. Eventually, they find him with a prisoner. Joshua has his pants down and he's raping a woman. She's naked and there's a puddle of blood coming from her. Joshua hits her and roars, “If you try screaming again I'll have your head on a spike with your mouth around my cock!”\n\tThe cell door swings open and the commander stands to the side, letting Aldan walk in. Joshua immediately rolls over, stopping himself as he reaches to pull his pants up. The naked woman back away towards the wall and starts to cry. Gerald looks to Aldan, unsurprised. “You remember asking me what would be done if someone harms a prisoner?”\n\tAldan's hand is on his sword. His face has gone absolutely calm. Few men have seen him with that look. Gerald was one of them. At the village so long ago. Aldan looks at the woman. “What's her crime?” He asks quietly.\n\tJoshua answers, “She's a killer and a whore! What does it matter what I do to her?”\n\tGerald yells. “Silence, traitor! My inmates will be treated with dignity and respect regardless of what crimes they commit. Not only have you committed one of the worst crimes in the kingdom, but you have done so in my prison! This is a crime that goes against the warden! GUARDS!” Four guards quickly run to the cell, standing outside. Observe this moment well and tell your fellow colleagues about this. He holds onto his sword, spitting with anger. “By the power invested in me by the king and as warden, I sentence you, Joshua, to death for committing rape against an inmate. Aldan!” He turns to him. “Kill this man for me. Make him suffer. Make it slow.”\n\tJoshua wails out, crying, kicking his feet as he puts his pants back on and looks to his sword, which is on the bed. The girl has now balled up in the corner of the cell. “Please, you must understand! She's only a whore! You can't do this!”\n\tGerald speaks louder. “Aldan? Do you need me to take care of this for you?”\n\t“No, sir.” Aldan walks in past Joshua. He grabs his sword from the bed. He pulls the blanket off and drapes it over the woman. “You may not want to watch this.” He stands and looks at Joshua. “Then again, you may want to.”\n\tAldan looks at Joshua. “Last words?”\n\tJoshua looks up to him and laughs hysterically. “What's wrong? I didn't know you'd take the joke that bad. Demon loving scum!”\n\tAldan draws Joshua's sword. “I'm going to kill with your own sword. So that at least once, it will have served an honorable purpose.” He stands in front of Joshua. With a quick thrust and flick of his wrist, Aldan removes Joshua's left testicle. It flies across the room, squishing against the cell wall and sliding to the floor. “We're going to remember you, Josh. All the guards. When a guard rapes an inmate because he can't get women at home, we'll call that \"A Joshua\".” Another thrust and wrist flick and the right testicle is removed. “Whenever a guard shits his pants because he's too sick or drunk, we're going to call that \"A Joshua\".”\n\tAldan takes a fencing stance, he feints at Joshua's legs, then shoulders, finally removing his penis. “It looked a little lonely without your balls, so I thought it'd be best to reunite them. Whenever a man can't get it up or please his lover, that's \"A Joshua\".”\n\tHe kneels downs, just out of arms reach. “I forget, Josh. Are you married? Do you have children?”\n\tJoshua is bleeding out to death, sobbing and wailing in pain, unable to speak. Gerald speaks for him. “He has nobody at all. Nobody will miss him. Guards, are you watching?” He looks to them, and they respond with a 'yes sir', standing still in amazement and disgust. “Please, continue Aldan.”\n\t“I guess they're lucky they don't exist. They don't have to know they were married to a coward, fathered by a coward.” Aldan turns to the woman. “Did he bite you? Punch you? Kick you?”\n\tShe pulls down the bedsheet, nodding, still traumatized and afraid. “Yes.”\n\t“One of you men, take her to the infirmary. She's been through enough.” When the woman is taken away, Aldan drives his fist into Josh face. Three times into his mouth, until Joshua is spitting blood and teeth. “That's for biting.”\n\tHe takes Josh's right hand and crushes it beneath his boot. Then does the same with the left hand. “That's for striking a prisoner.” Pulling his legs straight, he stomps down on Josh's ankles. “That's for kicking a prisoner.” He punches Josh two more times, then reaches into his mouth pulling out his tongue. He severs it with a quick stroke. “That's for lying to me. And for talking about my husband.”\n\tOne of the guards pukes and Gerald grabs him by the shoulder, forcing him to watch on.\n\tAldan stands and paces the cell. He pauses a few feet back, looking at Josh. “Does it hurt yet? Does it sting just a bit?” He walks back up to Josh and kneels beside him. Grabbing a handful of hair, he yanks Joshua's head back. He leans in close. “Congratulations, Josh. You've earned all of this. Every moment. More, even. But I have to get back to work. But you should be happy. You're the last person I'm going to ever kill in the prison. Unless there's another war, the last stroke I make in anger. Good bye, Josh. I'll forget you by breakfast.” Aldan draws the blade slowly, deeply across Josh's throat. He keeps him pointed away from himself or the others so the spray doesn't soil them. And when the spray is only a gurgle and Josh's eyes begin to dim, Aldan stands and goes back to the door. He looks back at Josh's remains, smiling at him. He turns to the warden and other guards, “I'll do worse to any man who abuses a child inmate.”\n\tGerald lights another cigarette, pacing around the cell as he looks at the mess. “Guards! You will clean this room and dispose of his body. Notify any extended family of his of his crimes and that his remains will not be found. Have them burned outside. As you clean his body please take into consideration how serious I am about the wellbeing of my inmates.” Gerald exits, following him back down the hallway. “Are you okay, Aldan? I was not expecting to see him doing that when I opened the door. No. What was on my mind was to have him fired in front of you. Come up to my office and I will pay you for what you have just done. Three hundred silvers. Consider it a bonus.”\n\tAldan nods. He briefly considers refusing the money. But with the baby coming. And it might let him do some things for the students. He follows Gerald back to the office. His mind is calm, which unnerves Aldan. He should be feeling something. But he's not. It's as if he just swatted a fly away from Whirlwind's flank.\n\tGerald goes back to his desk, fetching out a bag of coins, which he throws down in the middle of the table to him. He takes the signed paper, tucking it away in a file, then moves his chair over to the right, going through more folders. “Ah, yes. Before you leave, I'll need to find out who it is you'll be working with. Any information new inmates that fit the criteria will be given to you by me. You said you're working as a counselor at the rehabilitation school, yes? How many do you have there?”\n\tAldan looks up.” Still somewhat detached from himself Sir? I'm not sure exactly. No more than twenty.”\n\t“Ahh.. So you'll be quite a busy man then.” He makes further small talk as he gathers the files, slapping them against the desk and putting his cigarette out. “Alright. You can take these home with you if you'd like or leave them in your old cabinet.” He flips through them, reaching for his stack of cigarettes, which are now empty. “You have six on your caseload here. Five of them are new and one of them has been in for two weeks now. You're free to leave whenever you want now. Make sure you take your money, though, Aldan.” He tries to snap Aldan out of it by raising his voice in a more serious tone when he says his name.\n\tAldan looks up. He blinks a few times. He shakes his head slightly and clears his throat. “Yes. I will, sir.” He stands and gathers the files. He tucks the sack of coins in his tunic. He starts to salute, catches himself, and instead extends his hand to the warder. “I won't let you down, Gerald.”\n\t“I know you want, Aldan. You're a very, very brave man for taking this job. I think very highly of you. You do know that, yes?” He takes Aldan's hand in a firm handshake, then lets go to walk him out of the office. “Forget about Joshua. Nothing like that will ever happen again in this prison after what you did. My good sir, I'll see you tomorrow, yes?”\n\t“Yes, sir. I'll try to have a plan, or at least an outline for you of how I hope to proceed. Good evening, sir.” Aldan leaves, slowly making his way through the halls. He wonders how far the story's gotten already. He exits the prison and takes a few deep breaths outside. Clutching his pendant, he looks at it, before kissing it reverently.” I'm sorry, Drew, my love. Forgive me.” Clearing his throat, Aldan spits in the street before heading back to the school and office to go over the new files.\n\tHalfway through Aldan's walk to the school the purple stone illuminates before his eyes. It stays lit even after he notices it, the light only fading out a minute later.\n\tAldan smiles and head in. “You always were a better demon-boy husband than I deserved.”\n\n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>THE BOY HEROES FROM THE LAND OF ERIK (A Series of Epics)<br />Epic no. 4 - <br />Lev&rsquo;s Tale<br />By DamiJon<br /><br />Notes: No horny stuff in this chapter. Instead, this one is more based on character building and plot. Trigger warning &ndash; this chapter does have some intense violence in it.<br /><br />Chapter Six.<br /><br />\tAldan waits by the door. He smiles at his boy and boyfriend. &ldquo;You two are so cute. I just want to eat you up.&rdquo; He opens the door and heads out with the young, troubled demon boy.<br />\tLev dances as he walks, forming fires in his hands as he moves in circles and somersaults around. Eventually, he stops and calms down, standing to Aldan&#039;s side. &ldquo;Sorry about that. I just can&#039;t hold in how happy I am to be with him. Do I even deserve someone as beautiful as him?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Deserve?&rdquo; He shakes his head. &ldquo;Did I deserve Drew? How happy we were for all of five days? Do I deserve Katey and my children?&rdquo; He shakes his head again. :Deserve has so little to do with what happens in our lives, Lev. Don&#039;t worry about things like &#039;deserve&#039;. Be happy and let yourself be happy. Keep making him happy. Who can say why we love who we love?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Huh... A little to philosophical for me to understand.&rdquo; He rolls his eyes, still grinning and messing around with you. &ldquo;Love sure is weird. Do you mind if I hang out with Aizen for a bit after I get my tea? You can talk to my parents or Holt. Holt&#039;s kind of... Awkward though. He&#039;s always so serious, but he&#039;s kind of relaxing to listen to.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;You&#039;d better not be stepping out on my boy!&rdquo; Aldan teases. &ldquo;Certainly, Lev. Do you think you&#039;ll be a while? Demons and elves don&#039;t sleep, but I do.&rdquo; He chuckles. &ldquo;It will be fine. Honestly, I hope that maybe you and Aizen will have some insight into our problem. I&#039;m stumped right now.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;The only insight we have is drinking a bottle of absinthe between us both.&rdquo; He laughs, bumping into him playfully. &ldquo;Just don&#039;t try and hit on Holt. Those two are super duper in love with each other and would never consider anyone else in their love life.&rdquo; Lev sprints, jumps up a tree, then does two flips in the air before he lands down on his feet. &ldquo;Almost there.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;What kind of man do you think I am? I&#039;m married, after all.&rdquo; Aldan laughs. &ldquo;Twice married, as a matter of fact. I don&#039;t need any more lovers. I&#039;m happy with my three.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Okay, love bird. You have any coins on you? I wasn&#039;t kidding about that bottle.&rdquo; They&#039;re close by and seems to be a busier night out than usual. All of the tables are filled outside and there are baristas filling out their orders and handing them their drinks. Horsecabs try to make their way through people. Musicians play further out in the street. &ldquo;Holy cow! Wooh! They&#039;re making hella business tonight. It hasn&#039;t been this busy for months!&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I have coins.&rdquo; He takes a half dozen gold coins from his pouch, and a like number of silver. Handing them to Lev, he speaks, &ldquo;This should be plenty. I&#039;m not exactly the most welcome fella in the shop, you know.&rdquo; He looks at Lev. &ldquo;You do realize that I do care about you. Not just as Bryan&#039;s love, not just as whatever we are...&rdquo; He waggles his finger back and forth between them. &ldquo;Anyhow. That should be enough coin.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Thanks. Don&#039;t worry, you can have some too.&rdquo; Lev shakes the coins around in his hands as he walks in. Almost all of the bar stools up front are taken. His tail moves side to side swiftly and cautiously, showing that he&#039;s anxious by the number of people inside. Some of the people that live in the building are volunteering to work, which is not normal to see. Lev squeezes between two girls, who pout and look at him strangely as he speaks to one of the people behind the counter. His tail uncontrollably hits one of the girls in her face, but she doesn&#039;t call him out. A few minutes later, Lev returns with a large bottle of absinthe, no label on it, just a vibrant green color inside of the bottle. &ldquo;Long day for you, huh? You probably deserve the drink more than anyone else.&rdquo; He hands you the leftover change, popping off the top as the two of them head downstairs. &ldquo;One of the girls at the counter said that our high lord Rath passed away today. Drank himself to the grave. Don&#039;t worry. Nobody liked him anyway. This place is going to be much better without him now that my median is going to be the new high lord.&rdquo; He drinks straight from the bottle, gulping down two mouthfuls of it before he hands it to Aldan. &ldquo;Wooo!!! Careful with that! Bites like a viper.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;High Lord Rath? I think I met him once.&rdquo; Aldan takes the bottle, raises it in salute to Lev and takes a swallow. He purses his lips and whistles. &ldquo;Never did get used to the taste of this. It&#039;s strangely refreshing and unpleasant at the same time. Can&#039;t help but feel sorry for someone who lived their life in such a way that people are happier that they&#039;re dead.&rdquo; He walks with Lev through the apartment levels, still tasting the absinthe and feeling it&#039;s burn as it goes down.<br />\t&ldquo;I hope none of the customers upstairs ventured down here. They&#039;re not supposed to. Sometimes people get so trashed that they end up in the hallway of our apartments!&rdquo; He takes the bottle, holding it to his chest, then stops midway at the stairs. &ldquo;Rath did a lot of good in his early years. You could say that none of us would be here if it weren&#039;t for him. Well, we&#039;d just move to Aigua or back to our villages. At some point, he stopped helping people and became fixated on the shop upstairs, so much that he stopped caring about anything else. Everything has been in shambles ever sense, leaving it up to the four medians here to mentor the few hundred demons living here. He became a drunk and abandoned us all. So yes, I&#039;m glad he&#039;s dead. Last month was the first time I ever heard about Drew, you know. I find that crazy. Drew and I had so much in common, lived in the same hallway, but never met. I mean, how is that even possible? It&#039;s almost as if something was blocking our minds off from connecting with each other...&rdquo; He puts the bottle to his head, taking another swig. His tail wags as he tries to remember what he was about to say. &ldquo;He said that I would end up like Drew. That I&#039;d kill people and end up with my head on the block just like him. That I might as well just kill myself so I don&#039;t do any harm. He was a drunken bastard. A cowardly man. But I digress.&rdquo; Lev continues walking down the stairs, stopping at the last door at the end of the hallway.<br />\tAs they walk, Aldan wraps an arm around Lev&#039;s shoulders. &ldquo;Yeah, I did meet him once. Drew stopped me from killing him behind the bar up there. It would make sense that whatever the shadow is that whispers to you wouldn&#039;t want you and Drew to talk. The more alone you are, the more the shadow can influence. It&#039;s probably really pissed that you have friends. Fuck it, more than friends. A second family.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan looks back along the hallway. Remembering his brief attempt to get Drew&#039;s father to visit his son.<br />\tLev jokes, &ldquo;Should I knock or just burst in again?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I think we should knock.&rdquo;<br />\tThe boy sticks out his long wolf tongue. &ldquo;Alllllright....&rdquo; He knocks on the door with his bottle. A seconds later, Holt opens it. The blonde demon boy is sitting on his coffee table playing a harp that&#039;s as tall as he is.<br />\tHolt looks to the two of them, giving a faint smile. &ldquo;Hello, Lev and... Aldan, is it? What brings you along?&rdquo;<br />\tLev pauses for a second, then gasps. &ldquo;Crap! I was going to get my tea from my Grandma before I came over! Well, I had to stop by to get my medicine, but I also wanted to chat one on one with Aizen if I can. You and Aldan can have some alone time too, if you&#039;d like.&rdquo;<br />\tHolt raises a brow to Aldan, trying to decide whether he will do so or not. &ldquo;Aizen is just finishing up his practice work. You may enter. And Lev, thanks for knocking this time.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;No problem!&rdquo; He shouts proudly as the two of them enter.<br />\tAldan enters. He removes his sword, leaving it near the door. Moving to the table, he takes a chair, watching Aizen manipulate his harp. &ldquo;To this unrefined ear, that sounds pretty good, Aizen. Holt. How are the two of you? Any ill effects?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I&#039;ve been fine.&rdquo; Aizen pauses his practice, going for a mug of water before he walks to his closet. &ldquo;Tomorrow, I have a small solo concert for my school. It&#039;s at the library that you always go to, Lev. I&#039;m supposed to play three original compositions, so I rented this beautiful, but tiresome instrument and started to compose for it. Hopefully the Goddess Learo will help me overcome my performance anxiety!&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;You have to compose three original pieces before tomorrow?&rdquo; Aldan seems incredulous.<br />\t&ldquo;It&#039;s fine. I won&#039;t sleep tonight anyway. Plus I&#039;ve been feeling very inspired today.&rdquo; Aizen pulls out a robe and fundoshi, throws it to Lev, then grabs some of his own clothing. &ldquo;You haven&#039;t bathed yet, have you? We can have our chat if you&#039;d like. Are you ready, Lev?&rdquo;<br />\tLev jumps in excitement. &ldquo;Oh, yes! We&#039;ll be on our way! Give us thirty minutes. Is that enough?&rdquo; He looks to Holt and Aldan for permission.<br />\tAldan nods to Lev. He looks to Holt. &ldquo;Is it alright if I wait here? I don&#039;t feel comfortable in the shops upstairs.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Oh, I understand. You may go, my love.&rdquo; Holt gives his nod for them to leave and the two demons exit quickly. &ldquo;He really has been fine since the incident. I&#039;ve kept my eye on him and we&#039;ve had a bit of a talk. I wouldn&#039;t worry too much. He&#039;s taking a lot of his emotions out on the music he&#039;s creating. I think you should come tomorrow. It&#039;ll be very special... Someone is going to write a review about it in the papers. He wants to do something revolutionary, but I&#039;m trying to calm him down from doing anything too extreme.&rdquo; Holt is still dressed in his suit and armor, sword arranged to his side.<br />\t&ldquo;Good luck with that. Our demon-boys seem to thrive on extremes.&rdquo; Aldan watches Holt. The way he moves and how he carries himself. The young elf reminds him of another elf he knew when he was young. Realizing that he&#039;s staring, he coughs and looks around the apartment. &ldquo;It must be rather cozy here for the two of you.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;It&#039;s small, but I think it works for us. Having it like this makes sure that we don&#039;t hide from each other. We&#039;re always together, always close... Everything I do is for him.&rdquo; Holt takes the half full bottle of absinthe from off of the counter, grabs two glasses from the kitchen, and fills both of them a third of the way up. &#039;This is for us, right?&rdquo;<br />\tAldan looks at the door. &ldquo;It is now.&rdquo; He chuckles. &ldquo;I think he meant to share it with Aizen. I don&#039;t think he&#039;d mind if we each had a glass. So, Lev has described you and Aizen as &quot;super duper in love.&quot; How did you meet?&rdquo;<br />\tHe takes a small sip from his glass. &ldquo;Had I not told you? We met out in the forest. Aizen had traveled alone from home to come here. The same way that we met we had made a pact to stay true to each other forever. It was some kind of demon marriage ritual.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;They don&#039;t really seem to marry other demons, do they?&rdquo; Aldan laughs. &ldquo;I can&#039;t complain, though.&rdquo; He stands and retrieves his sword, sitting back down and laying it on the table. &ldquo;You&#039;re a warrior, obviously.&rdquo; He looks at Holt&#039;s sword and points at it. &ldquo;Do you mind?&rdquo;<br />\tHolt unsheaths his blade and hands it over. &ldquo;I think you and I are exemptions. You know... The performance that Aizen is doing is being dedicated to Drew. They were very good friends growing up. I&#039;m sort of afraid that he&#039;s showing symptoms of depression and I won&#039;t be enough to help him through it. He probably needs a professional.&rdquo; He crosses his arms, waiting for his approval. &ldquo;It was a gift I was given on my first day of duty.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan stands and unsheathes the blade. He examines the finish, the workmanship of the blade and hilt. He holds it out it front of it, feeling it&#039;s weight. He lets the blade dip, twisting his wrist and letting the blade travel in a circle until it returns to his original position. &ldquo;Very nice. Superb balance. You fight with finesse. It&#039;s a declaration more than a question. We should practice together sometime. Since I&#039;m not longer a guardsman, I&#039;ll need someone to practice with to preserve my skills.&rdquo;<br />\tHolt takes his bad, putting it back in place and walking past him. &ldquo;We have a room specifically for that, if you believe it. If you&#039;re not too tired, maybe you can teach me a thing or two?&rdquo; He opens the door, leading the way.<br />\tAldan takes his sword and rebelts it. &ldquo;I&#039;m tired, but I don&#039;t think any foe would let me rest. Practice when you can, so that you can fight when you must.&rdquo; He follows Holt. He flexes and stretches his arms and shoulders as they walk. &ldquo;Is sword your best weapon? Or do you prefer the bow or spear?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I&#039;m best with a bow, but good with a sword too.&rdquo; He leads the way halfway up the stairs, then into the labyrinth of various rooms. In some of them, there are people meditating. He stops, pointing to one door. &ldquo;This is where Lev and Aizen are right now. We&#039;re a little bit further away.&rdquo; He goes further down the hall, opening a white door. The room is massive and the walls are blood red. Candles are still lit from whoever was last in to practice. There are dozens of weapons hung from the walls. The carpet is as soft as the finest grass. Holt stretches out his legs, unsheathing his blade again, then points it to his left side at an archery target. &ldquo;From this distance, I can hit the bullseye with my eyes closed every time.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan nods. &ldquo;Impressive. I&#039;m adequate with a bow. Perhaps you could give my boy, Bryan, some lessons? He&#039;s intent and being well rounded as a warrior. I can teach him well enough with a sword, but a bow is another matter.&rdquo; He unsheathes his own blade. &ldquo;Rules?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Rules... Hmm.&rdquo; Holt thinks. &ldquo;No killing and no limbs being cut off. Are those good? We&#039;re just messing around, but I think you&#039;ll forgive me if I accidentally draw blood from you.&rdquo; He bends his legs, holding the sword straight out as he levels it towards the man, concentrating on how he will respond.<br />\tAldan takes a pair of low swings as he moves into position, warming up. &ldquo;Why do all the devastatingly handsome boys want my blood?&rdquo; He grins at Holt and nods. &ldquo;Let us begin.&rdquo; With that, he shifts into a defensive stance. He keeps the grin, as he slowly circles to his left. Counter to what Holt would expect from a right-handed swordsman.<br />\tHolt slowly moves his blade upwards, following his steps as he moves in closer. He doesn&#039;t want to take the first swing out of fear of messing something up.<br />\tAldan watches Holt as Holt studies him. &ldquo;Would you like to talk as we spar? Or do prefer silence?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Doesn&#039;t matter to me.&rdquo; He takes this as his advantage, moving in and swinging his blade to swipe Aldan&#039;s blade to the left, bringing it down as he does so, but is then countered back as the trained warrior swings back with just as much strength. Holt defends himself from the second swing as he stands back up, settling back into his original stance.<br />\tAldan feints to his right, moving left instead and aiming low. Holt shifts parries the blow, their swords ringing out as the clash. Aldan waits less than a second before moving in again the same low attack. When Holt blocks him, he redirects to a higher attack, which Holt also blocks.<br />\tHolt turns his second block into a riposte, stabbing at Aldan&#039;s torso. Aldan moves back as he settles into his position. Holt is fast and nimble. &ldquo;Very nice.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;You&#039;re going easy on me, aren&#039;t you?&rdquo; Their blades continue to clash. Holt is beginning to work up a sweat and his body is tired from working all day, but he&#039;s having too much fun to be tired by now. When Aldan moves in to attack towards his stomach, he does a high back flip, landing right on his sword, then stepping up with one step and swinging his blade to Aldan&#039;s head. It&#039;s countered and hit heavily, which knocks Holt down to the ground. Aldan goes to the &quot;kill&quot;, but Holt rolls out of the way seconds before the ground is pierced, jumping back up into position. &ldquo;My blade wouldn&#039;t have touched you even if you hadn&#039;t blocked that. Wouldn&#039;t expect any less from a man who has fought in wars.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;You&#039;ve fought in anger, I&#039;m sure. I can see it in your technique.&rdquo; Aldan feints left, the feints right, as he has been the entire session. Instead of attacking, he waits a split second for Holt to react to the second feint then attacks from the left. He moves quickly and when Holt brings his sword up to counter, he feels the edge of Aldan&#039;s blade against the back of his neck. &ldquo;That would be a killing blow. Agreed?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yes, it would.&rdquo; Holt backs off, stepping down on one knee and bowing before standing back up. &ldquo;Your moves are simple, but so perfect and swift. Here I am jumping around like a monkey.&rdquo; He laughs. &ldquo;Do you know what Aizen&#039;s preferred weapon is?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Magic? Fire?&rdquo; Aldan sheathes his blade, taking a fresh towel from a stack by the door and wiping his face. &ldquo;I haven&#039;t seen him with any weapon.&rdquo;<br />\tHolt walks to him, finding a towel of his own to wipe his face and arms down with before he sheaths his sword. He throws it into a basket, then opens the door, leading the way. &ldquo;A dagger. He has a sword and staff as well, but prefers to use a blade just an inch larger than your hand. Can you imagine defending yourself in the forest with something so small?&rdquo;<br />\tAldan walks beside Holt. &ldquo;I&#039;ve had to use only a dagger to defend myself. In the right hands, a dagger can beat a sword. I&#039;m not surprised though. Given his love of music and art, a smaller weapon, easier to use makes sense.&rdquo;<br />\tAs they walk out of the labyrinth of rooms Holt changes discussion to something more serious. &ldquo;Aldan... What was your first battle like? How old were you when you first went? I&#039;m only thirteen and feel as if I might be going into battle by the end of the year.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan is startled at Holt&#039;s admission. &ldquo;Really? The end of the year? Against whom?&rdquo;<br />\tHe looks surprised and confused. &ldquo;Do you not know of what&#039;s going on in the forests right now? How the people of Cruiburg have begun slaughtering more than sixty villages in the past few years? Thousands of non-humans have died. It&#039;s why I&#039;ve been put to train others on combat in the forest, tracking, and other important survival tactics. The king had been holding off on it for the past year, but it&#039;s obvious that he&#039;s preparing for it, especially since Prince Asher had convinced him of this wars importance.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan frowns. &ldquo;I&#039;ve heard rumors, of course. I didn&#039;t realize that war was so close.&rdquo; He slaps his hand against his thigh. &ldquo;Dammit. It make sense. They&#039;ve always been a brutal people, especially to anyone who wasn&#039;t human.&rdquo; He looks at Holt &ldquo;But you&#039;re not in the King&#039;s army. I&#039;ve never seen you in uniform.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I&#039;ll have to fight so that I can protect my people and Aizen&#039;s as well. They were able to withstand their first attacks, but who knows how long it will be until they come back with more men.&rdquo; Holt leads him downstairs, back to the hallway, and to the apartment room, which is still empty. &ldquo;More absinthe?&rdquo;<br />\tAldan holds his hands up and shakes his head. &ldquo;I still have to get home tonight. If you have any wine, that would suit me better.&rdquo; His face grows serious. &ldquo;If you&#039;re set on fighting, it&#039;s a good thing we&#039;re talking. I&#039;d like to teach you as much as we can before war erupts. I may have to go with you. I&#039;ll have to wait and see what troops are called to muster. Anything I can do to help, name it.&rdquo;<br />\tHolt sighs. &ldquo;No wine. Sorry. I&#039;d appreciate anything you can teach me. In the meantime, I guess we should wait for the two of them to come back to us...&rdquo;<br /><br />\tAs Holt and Aldan went to spar and get to know one another better, the two young demons left upstairs for the baths. They speedily head through the maze of hallways and rooms until they reach the enormous dimly lit bath house. It&#039;s almost completely vacant as of now; an older couple has taken one of the baths nearby the door. Lev points to one of the far opposite side and strips off his clothes quickly, settling himself inside of the warm black water that smells like chai spices and vanilla soap. He swims over to one side, sitting down in the Jacuzzi-like bathtub and relaxes his muscles. &ldquo;I&#039;ve missed taking baths here. The one at Aldan&#039;s house is just too small and the room is so awkward. Maybe I&#039;m just a bit homesick?&rdquo;<br />\tAizen climbs into the baths and settles in to the warm, relaxing waters. He sits near Lev, leaning back against the edge of their tub, his legs stretched out in front of him. &ldquo;Why do you take baths at Aldan&#039;s?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Because I like doing it with Bryan, now that he&#039;s my boyfriend and all.&rdquo; He blushes, his tail sticking straight up out of the water before settling back down.<br />\tAizen is absent minded, tapping out the beat of one of his new compositions on the surface of the water. He looks over at Lev, smiling broadly and slides closer, loosely grabbing his friend&#039;s arm &ldquo;Boyfriend? Really? Tell me everything! Everything.&rdquo; He looks around, frowning after a moment. &ldquo;Didn&#039;t you have a bottle of absinthe for us?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I left it downstairs. Uhm... Well, you met him yesterday. He&#039;s a cutie, a younger version of his father. He has a horse that he calls Whirlwind, which looks like the ones you have from where you&#039;re from. He&#039;s a year younger than you, but his dick is an inch bigger than yours.&rdquo; He sticks out his tongue.<br />\tAizen wrinkles his nose and sticks his tongue out. &ldquo;Why are you measuring my dick?&rdquo; He laughs. &ldquo;He&#039;s cute, I agree. You&#039;ve seen his dick? You&#039;ve bathed together? Or more?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;You&#039;re the one that yelled out &quot;Suck my three incher!&quot; when Aldan and I walked in your room that one day.&rdquo; He nudges him on the shoulders, then descends to the bottom of the water, rising up to start rubbing the soap into his skin. &ldquo;Of course I&#039;ve seen his dick if we&#039;ve bathed together. We&#039;ve had sex too.&rdquo;<br />\tAizen&#039;s eyes go wide with surprise. He dips beneath the water, rising and wiping his hair from his face. Reaching behind him, he takes a sponge and soap and begins washing. &ldquo;Sex? Really? He&#039;s so young. Even as a human he&#039;s young, no?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Is he? I don&#039;t know. Aren&#039;t there plenty of older people that marry people our age? It&#039;s not like he&#039;s stupid or anything. He&#039;s probably smarter than me!&rdquo; He reaches for the silver bowl next to the bath, grabbing his own sponge.<br />\tAizen shrugs as he reaches one arm straight into the air. He washes his arm. &ldquo;Lev, smell my armpit and let me know if I need to wash it.&rdquo; He says with a serious face.<br />\tLev doesn&#039;t need to move in order to smell him with his half-wolf senses. &ldquo;You&#039;re a dork. You won&#039;t get body odor for a long time to come.&rdquo; He stands up on the ledge with the water to his knees, scrubbing away at his lower legs, genitals, and ass, before falling right back into the bath and swimming over to the side by Aizen.<br />\t&ldquo;I know. I just wanted to see if I could get you to smell my pit.&rdquo; He sticks his tongue out, &ldquo;I forget some times that you&#039;re part wolf. Well, Holt and I are both young and we&#039;re married. Not officially, but we made our own ritual. We&#039;ll die if we betray each other. I don&#039;t know about humans, though. They don&#039;t really think things through sometimes. If Aldan finds out about you two, he might get angry, and we need his help. Have you and Ryan? Sean? What&#039;s his name again? Have you used the &quot;L&quot; word?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;The L world?&rdquo; He looks confused. &ldquo;His name is Bryan. You don&#039;t have to worry about his Dad because...&rdquo; Lev gets really up close to him and whispers, &ldquo;He did it with the two of us.&rdquo; He then swims back over to the bowl, grabbing a bar of soap as he begins to clean his tail. &ldquo;But I don&#039;t think I want to do that again. I just want it to be him and I. Maybe we can do the ritual too some day, but I feel like I should wait a few months or a year first.&rdquo;<br />\tAizen&#039;s jaw falls open. He stares at Lev for a moment, two moments, three moments. He blinks and shakes his head. &ldquo;All three of you together??? How was it? Wait. It must have been bad if you don&#039;t want to do it again. How did that happen?&rdquo; He stands in the water, lightly scrubbing his stomach and chest, as well as his privates.<br />\t&ldquo;It wasn&#039;t bad. If anything, it was great! At first, I just wanted Aldan to show us how to do it in the butt.&rdquo; He giggles at himself immaturely. &ldquo;Of course, things got out of hand. I don&#039;t want to do it again because I only want Bryan, nobody else, just like how you only want to be with Holt, you know?&rdquo; He puts his bar of soap back into the bowl, relaxing in the bath up to the tip of his shoulders. &ldquo;I still think it&#039;s wild that you and Holt were able to commit to the marriage ritual so quickly. I think it was the same for Aldan and his husband... They just felt destined for each other. If I&#039;m unsure and want to take things slow, does that mean my love isn&#039;t pure or destined?&rdquo;<br />\tAizen dunks himself again, rinsing himself. He surfaces and swim, floats next to Lev. He crosses his legs and sighs, &ldquo;I love Holt. More than anything. And when we have sex or make love or fuck, it&#039;s incredible. But there are times that I fantasize. I think that&#039;s normal? Even if we did find someone we both liked, I don&#039;t know what we&#039;d do. It&#039;s fun to think about sometimes.&rdquo; He reaches over, laying a hand on Lev&#039;s shoulder. &ldquo;Love is weird sometimes. When I first sensed Holt, first smelled him and sensed his spirit, it was as if I was discovering something that I&#039;d lost so long ago that I&#039;d forgotten about it. He was so familiar, so comfortable. The ritual seemed so obviously the thing to do. He felt it too.&rdquo; He pauses and purses his lips. The tip of his tail sways. &ldquo;Just because it&#039;s a little different for you and Bryan doesn&#039;t mean that you&#039;re less meant to be together. It doesn&#039;t make your love not pure. It just means your path is different. Lev, you also have the shadow to worry about. Maybe that&#039;s why you can&#039;t commit right away like we could. It would make sense.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yeah...&rdquo; He nods with a frown. &ldquo;I mean, what if I do something bad like everyone says I&#039;m going to do? For the longest time, everyone said that I was going to go on a rampage murdering people and now I&#039;ve been told that I&#039;ll not only destroy the entire kingdom, but the world! So I&#039;m scared of myself and also of hurting him.&rdquo;<br />\tAizen looks at Lev, sadness for his friend in his eyes. He leans over and hugs Lev. &ldquo;I&#039;m not scared of you, Lev. We&#039;ll figure it out. The shadow is worried that we will, so it might try to trick you somehow into doing something. Just remember your heart, remember how it feels to love your Bryan.&rdquo; He smiles at Lev. &ldquo;I&#039;m performing in a concert tomorrow evening. I want you and Bryan to be there. Promise me you&#039;ll come. I think that as long as you keep Bryan and love in your heart, the shadow can&#039;t make you do the things everyone worries about. But!&rdquo; He dances his fingers over Lev&#039;s arm as he talks. &ldquo;There&#039;s nothing wrong with taking things slowly. Some songs have a quick beat.&rdquo; He taps out a rapid rhythm on the surface of the bathwater. &ldquo;Some are more slow.&rdquo; He taps out a slow rhythm. &ldquo;But every song is beautiful when played in it&#039;s own time.&rdquo;<br />\tLev&#039;s frown transforms into a pleasant smile, showing how proud he is to have such a supporting friend in a community that is mostly scared of him. &ldquo;Thanks, Aizen. I promise that we will make it.&rdquo;<br />\tHe exhales, relaxing in the bath with his eyes closed until a woman enters the room, fully dressed in a robe. Her hair is crimson red and she&#039;s most likely around Aldan&#039;s age. The woman kneels down on her feet beside the bathtub and speaks. &ldquo;Hello boys. I&#039;m sure that you&#039;ve already heard about Rath&#039;s passing?&rdquo;<br />\tLev nods. &ldquo;Yeah. We heard. You&#039;re supposed to become the new high Lord, right?&rdquo;<br />\tShe stands up, walking over to grab them two towels and put them by the silver bowl. &ldquo;It has already been done. If you&#039;d like to give offerings to him, you would need to do so tonight because we are taking him out to be buried tomorrow. The shop will be closed for the next few days until we have things situated around here.&rdquo;<br />\tThe redheaded woman looks to the blonde-haired demon. O&rdquo;h, Aizen? I almost forgot to mention that I&#039;ve mentioned just about everyone tonight about your concert tomorrow. We&#039;re all very proud of how far you&#039;ve come just in the short time span of living here.&rdquo; She bows, then exits at her own leisure.<br />\tAizen looks at Lev. He swallows hard. &ldquo;Did she say everyone? How many people do you think that is?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I don&#039;t know. Aren&#039;t there around two hundred demons in our kingdom? It looks like you&#039;re going to be sold out and make tons of money!&rdquo; He jumps out in excitement and starts wiping himself down with a towel.<br />\tAizen climbs out of the tub and begins drying himself. &ldquo;Two hundred? I was expecting twenty people, maybe thirty. You, Byran, Aldan, Holt. Some of the parents from school.&rdquo; He sighs. &ldquo;No pressure, Aizen. I guess I should practice more tonight. Will you stay for dinner with us?&rdquo;<br />[7:53:14 PM] Damien: Lev shakes his head, grabbing his robe with one hand as he wraps the towel around his waist. No. Sorry. I&#039;m going back to Aldan&#039;s home to sleep with Bryan and then I have to go to school tomorrow. Are you going to be wearing those fancy human clothes at the concert?<br />\tAizen dons his robe. &ldquo;I don&#039;t think so. I have something nice that I made. I&#039;ll wear that, I think. You should talk to your Bryan. About anything that bothers you. That&#039;s what Holt and I do.&rdquo; He smiles. &ldquo;It&#039;s lucky that neither have to sleep more than a few hours a week.&rdquo;<br />\tThe two demon boys walk out of the hallways of mazes, which are uncommonly filled with many people who have come to give ritual offerings for the previous high lord that is now deceased. They make their way downstairs and Lev stops at his Grandparents door, tugging on Aizen&#039;s arm gently. &ldquo;I have to grab my tea. Wait here for just a moment.&rdquo;<br />\tHe smirks. &ldquo;But I&#039;m just a few doors down from you?!?&rdquo;<br />\tLev rolls his eyes, rushing in and out of his and his Grandparents apartment in a matter of a few minutes, emerging back out in the hallway in a clean kimono robe, which is pure black, matching his hair and fur, his wolf ears, and tail. &ldquo;Okay. I&#039;m good!&rdquo;<br />\tThe two of them burst back into the apartment at the very end of the hallway and find Holt and Aldan sitting beside each other by all of Aizen&#039;s instruments. They&#039;ve already pounded their way through most of the bottle and are laughing at each others drunken, horrible jokes. Aizen rubs his temple, trying to comprehend how they got through so much of the alcohol that fast. &ldquo;Oh my... Now I have to take care of this drunken elf all night. He&#039;s going to be dizzy and seeing different colors even in the morning.&rdquo;<br />\tHolt and Aldan notice the two demon-boys. They put their glasses down, Holt adopting his &#039;innocent face&#039; that Aizen knows well. Aldan seems in a little better shape, being heavier and more experienced as a drinker. Holt stands and points at Aizen. &ldquo;That one is mine!&rdquo; He walks unsteadily to his demon. &ldquo;You are clean? I hope. Becaushe I am going to do thingsh to you that will make us both shcream.&rdquo; He leans in to kiss Aizen, smelling of sweat and absinthe.<br />\tAldan diverts his eyes and stands, holding his chair for a moment. He nods. And carefully moves toward the door. &ldquo;I should wait a few minutes and drink some coffee, but I don&#039;t think....um, Holt! Yeah, Holt wants to wait for that.&rdquo;<br />\tAizen pushes him away for a second. &ldquo;Get off of me, silly. No sloppy kisses in front of everyone else.&rdquo; He takes him to the bed, tongue kissing him a bit more naturally, feeling under his shirt and armor as he makes out with him. &ldquo;That&#039;s better. Now you can do all of those things you want to do to me.&rdquo; He looks to Lev and Aldan. Lev&#039;s mouth is dropped in awe and he tugs on Aldan&#039;s belt, trying to drag the much larger and stronger man. &ldquo;Come on. Let&#039;s go before they start going at it in front of us again!&rdquo;<br />\tAldan looks down. &ldquo;Uh, don&#039;t grab me there. Unless you want to...I mean, I&#039;m a little drunk...&rdquo; He shakes his head, grabbing his sword and strapping it on. He looks back to Aizen and Holt. &ldquo;They are. . . .beautiful, aren&#039;t they? We should go before. . . .yeah. . .&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Don&#039;t worry. They&#039;re always going at it. You&#039;ll catch them some other time.&rdquo; Lev leaves the apartment, guiding Aldan back upstairs, through the closed shop, and out to the streets. &ldquo;Are you going to know your way back home or do I need to help you this time?&rdquo;<br />\tAldan looks at Lev. &ldquo;I thought you were staying over with Bryan?&rdquo; He reaches out unsteadily and holds Lev&#039;s face with one hand. &ldquo;He really needs you, you know. After Drew...&rdquo; He looks at Lev and his eyes blur and lose focus. &ldquo;Drew...&rdquo; He stands silently for a moment and his eyes meet Lev&#039;s. &ldquo;I have to save you. I don&#039;t know how yet. But I will, Lev. I will.&rdquo; He struggles, obviously wrestling in his own mind. He runs a finger along Lev&#039;s jaw.<br />\tLev looks at him awkwardly, confused. &ldquo;Of course I&#039;m coming back with you. I&#039;d just be a little lost on my own is all.&rdquo; He turns his head and continues walking his path, whistling to himself every now and then.<br />\tThey walk, Aldan somewhat slower than usual. They&#039;re approaching the halfway point when he stops. &ldquo;I have to know...what is Lev short for? Or is it just Lev, Lev?&rdquo; He looks up, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth. &ldquo;I don&#039;t mean is it short for Lev, Lev. Lev-Lev would be a strange name, even for a demon. I meant Lev, COMMA, Lev. See?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;It&#039;s just Lev. Is it weird?&rdquo; He walks backwards in circles around him, quite noticeably sober and much more awake than him.<br />\t&ldquo;It&#039;s unushual. But you&#039;re unushual, too. Unique.&rdquo; He watches Lev and smiles. &ldquo;Why do I alwaysh love the elf and demon boysh? Ish that weird? It feelsh weird.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;It&#039;s not weird at all. I think the alcohol suddenly getting to you. That&#039;s what our absinthe does. You think it&#039;s just normal absinthe, but it works its spell.&rdquo; He winks.<br />\t&ldquo;No. I loved you all before the abshinth.&rdquo; He&#039;s suddenly serious. &ldquo;It&#039;sh like without Drew, I have all thish love and he&#039;sh gone so I don&#039;t know what to do. I know I&#039;ll shee him again. He beckonsh Lev closer I liked fucking you and Bryan. It wash almosht ash good ash being with Drew.&rdquo; He whispers. &ldquo;I have to shave you. Bryan shouldn&#039;t feel the way I do.&rdquo;<br />\tLev is uncomfortable now, especially having him talk about him like this in public. There&#039;s not many people out and about nor would they be listening, but he can&#039;t help being somewhat bothered. &ldquo;Aldan... I don&#039;t think I want to do what we did ever again. It felt great and I loved it, but I want to be only with Bryan. I don&#039;t want to hurt you, but it&#039;s just the conclusion that I&#039;ve come to.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan nods. &ldquo;I undershtand. No, no. I do. It&#039;sh okay.&rdquo; He looks stricken. &ldquo;It&#039;sh good, you know. You know why? Becaushe it meansh you really love him and that makesh me happy. I&#039;m a big boy, Lev. I&#039;ll be fine. Don&#039;t you worry about me. I&#039;ll be fine.&rdquo;<br />\tThe two of them are quiet for the rest of the walk home, but Lev feels a little bit better now that he was able to get that off of his chest and leave it on good terms. They enter the pitch black house as quiet as mice. Lev forms a flame with his hand, leading Aldan to the door of his room. &ldquo;I&#039;ll see you tomorrow morning. Are you going to start working tomorrow at the school or just get to know everyone?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I don&#039;t know yet. &ldquo;He yawns &ldquo;I&#039;ll wait to shee how I feel.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Okay. I&#039;ll see you either way. Good night.&rdquo; He hugs him before he heads up the stairs and makes his way into Bryan&#039;s bedroom. The boy is asleep, hugging one of his pillows too. Lev smiles and thinks about waking up for a moment. He looks out the window towards the moon, then to where Whirlwind is, and back to his boyfriend. The brother will be home sometime tomorrow, whom he&#039;s excited to meet, but also equally nervous as well. He strips off his robe, propping it on a chair by Mikey&#039;s writing desk, then notices a stack of papers that weren&#039;t there before. Lev spreads them out on the table and reads through them rapidly. They&#039;re signatures. Maybe two hundred of them. Some of them even have text and letters in there with them. He stacks them back into place, walks back to the bed, and tucks himself in, thinking about what he just saw. They&#039;re signatures for a petition against the current law that&#039;s in favor of child executions. Bryan and his brother have probably been gathering these ever since Drew was executed. Lev remembers what Aldan said about how losing Drew had been hard on his son. The wolf-demon moves up closer, spooning him and holding him close, kissing his shoulders and neck before he pretends to fall asleep. By the time morning comes he&#039;s already downstairs and continues his cooking listens with the mother and sister. Afterwards, he makes coffee for them all, sets up the table, and waits patiently for breakfast to begin.<br />\tAldan quietly moves into the sitting room. The embers of the fire still glow slightly. He pokes them, blows air on them to relight them, tossing a few sticks of kindling and a medium log on the revived fire. He pulls his chair closer. His tea from earlier still sits on the table. He takes a swallow. Cold tea. He&#039;s had worse. Pulling off his boots and jacket, he dumps them on the floor along with his sword. He watches the flames dance, stretching his feet closer to the heat. He stares at the fire, thinking of Drew. Everyone he loves, he can&#039;t have. His sorrow deepens as he remembers the words of his training sergeant all those years ago. &quot;Soldiers do not cry. Soldiers do not cry.&quot; Whispering to the night, Aldan reminds the night. &#039;I&#039;m not a soldier any more.&#039; He holds his face in his hands and cries.<br /><br />\tThe next morning, he wakes to Lev&#039;s rummaging in the kitchen. He goes to the back door, to the well, drawing a bucket full of water and dumping it over his head. He shakes it back and forth before returning to the kitchen. &ldquo;I really need coffee, Lev.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Done and done.&rdquo; He hands him the warm cup of coffee, smiling at him brightly. &ldquo;I think it&#039;s the best I&#039;ve made all month! Have at it! Man... When is Bryan going to be up? I don&#039;t want to wake him out of his beauty sleep.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan takes a long drink. &ldquo;Mmmm. That&#039;s very good. Thank you. I have to clean up, but if you let him, Bryan will sleep until noon. Go ahead and wake him up.&rdquo; Aldan heads upstairs with his coffee.<br />\tLev sighs, walking back over the girls. &ldquo;All of this work done and they can&#039;t even respect us! Oh, and I almost forgot to ask! When is the other son coming home? I forgot his name...&rdquo;<br />\tAldan calls from the base of the stairs, &ldquo;Milliken. Did you want me to wake Bryan?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yeah! Go ahead!&rdquo; He yells. He helps set the food on the table, getting a big piece of raw liver for breakfast.<br />\tFive minutes later, the sound of pounding feet echoes from upstairs. It&#039;s easy for Lev&#039;s sensitive hearing to follow the progress. Bedroom. Hallway. Stairs. Bryan tears around the corner, pausing just long enough to see his wolf-boyfriend. He charges into Lev, grabbing him in a huge bear-hug, toppling the two of them onto the floor. Bryan begins kissing Lev&#039;s face. &ldquo;I missed you last night! Missed you, missed you, missed you. You should have woke me up!&rdquo; He kisses Lev hard on the lips, slipping his tongue into Lev&#039;s mouth.<br />\tSally quietly asks her mother, &ldquo;Are they getting married?&rdquo;<br />\tKate shakes her head. &ldquo;I have no idea anymore, dear. Keep stirring.&rdquo;<br />\tBryan suddenly pulls away from Lev. He spits on the floor, sticking his tongue out and wipe his sleeve along its length. Seeing Lev&#039;s face, he gawks, &ldquo;Raw liver????&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;It&#039;s super healthy for you!&rdquo; Lev moves his seat closer to Bryan&#039;s before he sets down so that he can let his tail lay in his boyfriends lap. &ldquo;You don&#039;t have to watch me eat it. I know it&#039;s weird to humans.&rdquo; He puts his coffee cup in between their plates. &ldquo;You can drink from my cup, you know.&rdquo; He kisses him on the lips once, bumping shoulders with him. &ldquo;I didn&#039;t want to wake you up. It just seemed like the wrong thing to do if you&#039;re going to school today. Plus, I need you to be wide awake for tonight.&rdquo;<br />\tBryan&#039;s eye go wide and he his mouth drops open. He begins to blush. I... I... uh. . .Lev.. ..uh.&rdquo;<br />\tKatey plops two fresh biscuits on Bryan&#039;s plate, along with two plump sausages, two fried eggs. Sally follows with a heavy skillet ladles gravy over the biscuits. She looks at Lev. &ldquo;Do you want gravy or anything, Mr. Lev?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Not like that, Bry!&rdquo; Lev elbows him. &ldquo;I&#039;m fine ma&#039;am. Actually, my friend Aizen will be playing live at the concert house tonight for his school. You&#039;re all invited to come along. It&#039;s only three silver coins for entry! He&#039;s a genius musician, only eleven years old, and learns instruments the second he touches them! You have to come tonight. It would mean the world to him.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Oooohhh!&rdquo; Bryan blushes more I knew that. He rips into his breakfast, cutting the sausage and combining it with egg, biscuit, and gravy in one huge bite. Gravy dribbles on his chin. As he chews, his mother puts a glass of milk in front of him.<br />\t&ldquo;You have the table manners of drunken monkey, Bryan.&rdquo; She sighs. &ldquo;Are you sure there&#039;s more you&#039;d like Lev? I have a sausage or two that are still raw.&rdquo;<br />\tBryan laughs, covering his mouth with one hand. He leans over to Lev. &ldquo;I have one, too.&rdquo; Lev feels biscuit pieces against his cheek.<br />\tLev uses to his tail to go through his boyfriends pants, under his garments, and tickles around his genitals as he speaks freely. &ldquo;I&#039;d love some raw sausage.&rdquo; He licks his fingers clean after devouring the piece of liver, drinking from his coffee cup to clear his palette, then plays footsie next to Bryan as his tail exits out of his pants.<br />\tBryan smiles and continues eating. Happiness and horniness radiant from him like he&#039;s a little sun.<br />\tAldan fairly trudges into the kitchen, his coffee cup empty. He looks better, freshly shaved, and changed into clean clothes. He smiles at everyone and Sally runs to him and he grabs her in a hug. &ldquo;How&#039;s my best little girl today?&rdquo; Looking at Kate. &ldquo;And my best big girl?&rdquo;<br />\tLev finishes his plate quickly, reaching under the table with his right hand as he slips it into Bryan&#039;s pants, tugging on his hard pecker as his boyfriend eats. &ldquo;Today is the start of a new life, huh Aldan?&rdquo; He continues to rub at it until everyone has sat down at the table.<br />\tThe family exchanges small talk until Aizen&#039;s concert comes up. &#039;Is there an occasion? A holiday for your people, Lev?&rdquo;<br />\tLev shakes his head. &ldquo;No, no. We don&#039;t have a holiday for another month. He&#039;s just doing it because he has to for school. Well, it&#039;s what he wants to do with his life...&rdquo; He stands up, stretching out his back, then takes his plate to the sink and cleans it. Afterwards, he stands beside Bryan and waits for him to finish his food. &ldquo;We&#039;re going to be late for school soon! That&#039;s what happens when you drink a bottle of absinthe in less than an hour, Aldan.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan gets a look on his face. Almost panic. As quickly as it appears, it&#039;s gone. &ldquo;Um, Holt drank his share. I didn&#039;t drink the whole bottle.&rdquo;<br />\tKate looks at him, arching her left eyebrow. &ldquo;So, that&#039;s why you were out all night.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I slept downstairs all night. I didn&#039;t want to wake you. I had a few drink with Holt, the elf husband of Aizen.&rdquo;<br />\tShe shakes her head. &ldquo;Men.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan breathes a sigh of relief and looks at Lev.<br />\tBryan Devours the rest of his breakfast, rushing upstairs to grab his books and chalk tablet. As he&#039;s thumping about upstairs, Aldan finishes his coffee and moves into the sitting room. He&#039;s dressed in normal clothes, no uniform and tugs at his collar and rolls his shoulders every few moments. Grabbing his sword, he stares at it for a long time. As Bryan begins jumping down the stairs, Aldan tightens his sword belt and sighs comfortably. He looks at Lev. &ldquo;It feels strange to be out of uniform. Without the sword is too much. I&#039;ll leave it in the office when I&#039;m working with the kids.&rdquo;<br />\tThe three of them prepare to leave, Bryan kissing his mother, and Aldan kissing Kate and the younger children. Kate gives Bryan and Aldan each a small basket, and Lev a small clay pot sealed with bee&#039;s wax. She pats Lev&#039;s shoulder gently. &ldquo;And I didn&#039;t forget you.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Thanks, Katy.&rdquo; Lev blushes and bows to her, before following his boyfriend and Aldan outside to the front of the house. &ldquo;Your mom is so much nicer than my Grandma.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan and Bryan both nod. Bryan smiles. &ldquo;She&#039;s a great mommy. I&#039;m glad you like her. I don&#039;t think she&#039;ll mind when we ask her to let you move in.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan whistles. &ldquo;I don&#039;t know about that. We&#039;ve got your little brother coming. Adding Lev too. You should leave that to me, Bry. We have to see how you and Mikey get along, too.&rdquo; He glances at Lev. &ldquo;How do you feel about scholars?&rdquo;<br />\tBryan laughs and elbows Lev. &ldquo;Scholars who never stop asking questions until you tickle them and make them pee themselves.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;You often forget that I once wrote for the papers.&rdquo; Lev says proudly, sticking his tongue out at his boyfriend.<br />\t&ldquo;Oh?&rdquo; Bryan narrows his eyes at Lev. &ldquo;Will you pee yourself if I tickle you enough?&rdquo; He reaches for Lev&#039;s side, trying to tickle his ribs and under his arms.<br />\tAldan grabs Bryan&#039;s shoulder and steers him away from Lev. &ldquo;No pee-tickling before school!&rdquo; He laughs. &ldquo;You guys are a hoot.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Fine, fine...&rdquo; Lev uses his tail to tickle Bryan&#039;s back and under his shirt, holding him in a hug so that he can&#039;t be free from it. &ldquo;What&#039;s wrong? What&#039;s so funny? You&#039;re not gonna pee, are ya?!?&rdquo; As soon as he feels his boyfriends stiffie getting hard he stops, afraid that he might actually make him pee. They&#039;re at the point in they&#039;re walk where they have to part. &ldquo;Oh man. It sucks we have to take opposite ways. Aldan and I might have to run anyway. He doesn&#039;t want to be late for his first day at the new job!&rdquo; Lev pecks Bryan on the lips, tickling his side before he finishes it. &ldquo;I love you. See you after school?&rdquo;<br />\tBryan leans into Lev&#039;s kiss, almost losing his balance as Lev pulls back. He takes Lev&#039;s hand for an instant. &ldquo;Of course, silly. I&#039;ll meet you at your school when you get out.&rdquo; He hugs Aldan, receiving a kiss on the cheek. Running down the road, he turns and waves. &ldquo;I&#039;m gonna make you pee!&rdquo; He calls out, with several passers-by giving him a strange look as he disappears towards school.<br />\t&ldquo;Man. This is gonna be wild today. You&#039;re going to be the new counselor at my school! You do realize everyone there is absolutely crazy like me, right? The only reason we&#039;re not in prison is because we got away with an insanity excuse.&rdquo; He smells his clay pot of food, licking his lips as his animal hunger grows. His ears twitch and he turns his head, hearing a fight break out from a third of a mile away, then turns to face Aldan again. &ldquo;You and Jeremen will get along well, but our two teachers are just normal folks. They&#039;ve never fought in any wars or anything, so I don&#039;t know if you&#039;ll like them as well.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan smiles. &ldquo;You know, I can like someone who&#039;s not a stone-cold killer! I&#039;m a man of many talents and mysteries.&rdquo; He looks seriously at Lev. &ldquo;Is there anything I need to know? About the other teachers or any of the kids? I know Jeremen will brief me, but you probably know a lot that he doesn&#039;t.&rdquo;<br />\tHe holds the clay pot with one hand as he pauses to think. &ldquo;Hmm... I&#039;d say to go easy on us and don&#039;t talk down on us like we&#039;re kids even if we are, because the only thing we need from you is to feel like we&#039;re actually being heard. That&#039;s my best advice.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;That makes sense. I found that with our inmates, too. At the end, many of them just wanted someone to listen and treat them like sentient beings, not monsters.&rdquo; He looks down. &ldquo;Even if they&#039;d done monstrous things.&rdquo;<br />\tThey walk quietly through the crowded streets until they reach the school. Lev looks at his feet before he enters, which are a bit dirty. One of the teachers has left a bucket with a lid over it along with a cloth outside of the school by the front door for him, which he uses to clean his feet before he enters. All of the other kids are already present, and the two teachers are almost prepared to begin classes. Lev puts his food away in a tub, ushers Aldan into the small school, and takes place at his seat. <br />\tOne of the teachers, a young woman with very short brown hair notices him and holds out her hand. &ldquo;You must be Aldan. We saw you yesterday but didn&#039;t know that you would be our new school counselor. We wish you luck. Right kids?&rdquo; They all respond with a &#039;right&#039; or &#039;yes ma&#039;am&#039;, some of them enthusiastic while others couldn&#039;t care less.<br />\tAldan looks around the room. Spying the boy with green hair, he thinks of Dakota. Was that just yesterday? He nods and awkwardly waves. &ldquo;I hope I can help.&rdquo;<br />\tThe other teacher, a young man in his early twenties, quite short and skinny, runs over to Aldan and the female teacher and greets him with excitement. &ldquo;My name is Jack. I was once a student here. We feel so fortunate to have a new member to our family. I hope you enjoy being with us and that we get to know one another better as time goes on.&rdquo; <br />\tPrincipal Jeremen comes out of his office, slaps one hand over Aldan&rsquo;s shoulder, and walks him to his office after greeting him. &ldquo;Your room is much like his, except there aren&#039;t any books or artwork anywhere inside.&rdquo; He shows Aldan the furniture in the room, pulls out the drawers of the desk, points at the case files for each student that are now his to keep. &ldquo;So this is where you&#039;ll be working. Like I said, you&#039;ll speak with every student for about thirty minutes every day. All of their information is in the files, but I wouldn&#039;t go straight by that. It&#039;s best to get to know them first before you make any judgements on their characters. Some of these students have done some atrociously disgusting things, but it&#039;s not because they themselves are evil. No, quite the contrary. They were just on the wrong foot path and guided wrongly with no nourishment. We&#039;ve had one hundred and twenty graduates come out of our school. It&#039;s a small school, so you can&#039;t expect much either way. Unfortunately, thirty-six of them didn&#039;t complete the program and repeated their past behaviors, committing even more serious crimes that lead them to the rope or block. That is the greatest tragedy of all, but I&#039;m speaking to the choir, huh?&rdquo; He laughs to diminish the seriousness of the conversation, patting him on the shoulder as he gets Aldan to touch the fine leather of his seat. &ldquo;Pretty good office, huh? You can bring whatever you want in here. Take your time and just get yourself situated. Read over the files. Tomorrow the real work will begin. Any questions?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Am I permitted to observe classes? In the prison, we&#039;d sometimes take a prisoner who had showed remorse and contrition, and we&#039;d make him a trustee. They&#039;d have more privileges, a little more freedom.&rdquo; Aldan is still examining his office. &ldquo;I was wondering if something like that would work here?&rdquo;<br />\tJeremen walks over to the window and looks out as he answers. &ldquo;Yes, you&#039;re allowed to observe classes. Do whatever you please. You will be having lunch with the students and teachers as well.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Thank you, Principal Jeremen. I&#039;ll do my best to justify your confidence and to help the students. To help &quot;our&quot; students.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Good. Good. I&#039;ll let you be then. Take as long as you like and feel free to leave or come back whenever you want. You may even start today if you feel as if you can do so.&rdquo; He pulls out a cigar from a sleeve pocket, placing it on the desk. &ldquo;A gift. Come by my office anytime you want.&rdquo; The principal leaves the office elegantly, leaving the door open as well. <br />\tAldan takes the cigar and smells it. It&#039;s a good smoke and he sets it in his desk draw for later. He looks out of his window, learning his view, opening the window for some fresh air. Sighing, he sits at his desk and looks through the files looking for a last name that matches Dakota&#039;s. He&#039;s nervous and excited.<br />\tHe finds the green haired boys file, noted as Jay Codoc, eleven years old, admitted to the school half a year ago after running away from home for the third time and hiding out in the forest. He&#039;s been noted to have suicidal tendencies through the act of self-mutilating himself. Also says on his report that he was sexually abused by his Grandfather when he was seven, who was executed by hanging after being found guilty. There are follow up reports on many sessions, all of them showing that he has made no progress at all.<br />\tAldan leans back in his chair. He taps a finger on his desk. &ldquo;His grandfather. Dakota, did he do that to you, too? Is that part of your story?&rdquo; He looks through his desk, searching for ink, quill, and paper.<br />\tAldan stands and exits his office. He heads for one of the classrooms. Leaning against the door frame he watches the teacher and students, trying to learn what he can as they study and teach and talk. He makes mental notes on anything unique or distinguishing for the students.<br />\tAll of the students seem pretty engaged into what they&#039;re learning. That is, except Lev, who&#039;s tail sways from side to side in boredom. They&#039;re reading a history book, which he has closed and rests an arm on. The teachers call on students to read from time to time and speak loudly and cheerfully. Even Jay seems surprisingly relaxed as he reads from his textbook. Some of the students notice Aldan, but none of them stare for too long. For a moment Aldan is surprised that any of these students would be considered deviant and having committed crimes.<br />\tAldan listens to the history lesson, curious about they&#039;ll teach about the battles and wars he&#039;s been a part of. Quietly, he moves to the other classroom and observes. The room is small, only three students in it at the moment. All of the desks have been moved out of the way and the female teacher is sitting with them in a circle as they meditate in silence together. She notices him watching but pretends he&rsquo;s not there as she guides them with breathing exercises.<br />\tAldan does his best to quietly move back to his office. He takes Lev&#039;s file and sets it in front of him. He doesn&#039;t open it. Instead, he moves it to one side and takes the top file from the stack and begins reading through. He examines each file in order, keeping Lev&#039;s off to the side, until lunch.<br />\tAt lunch, the once quiet school transforms into a explosion of loud conversations and gossip. All of the students gather into the main classroom, splitting into their typical three groups as they eat together. The teachers sit together as well, having their small talk and such. Lev sits with the green haired boy and a girl as he did the day before. Eventually, the principal stops by Aldan&#039;s office, knocking on the open door and asks if he wants to join the teachers for lunch. Aldan grabs his basket and follows Jeremen.<br />\tJeremen leads Aldan to a wide desk that the teachers sit at. The girl speaks first. &ldquo;I noticed you peaking in on our meditation session today. We do that once a week. We think it reinforces our students to learn how to better calm themselves by shutting off the worries in their mind and just focusing on the now. I never formally introduced myself, did I? My name is Raven.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan nods as he sits. &ldquo;Good to meet you both. I served with a fella who meditated every morning and evening. What else do you teach, Mrs. Raven?&rdquo;<br />\tRaven finishes her food, putting it off to the side before she answers. &ldquo;I do mathematics. Jack does history and literature. We try to spice up the stuff we teach if we can and ask students what they want to learn.&rdquo;<br />\tJack puts down a turkey leg before he asks, &ldquo;Have you ever had any experience as a counselor? You don&#039;t look like a teacher. Look more like you just fought in a war to me!&rdquo; He laughs at his own joke and Raven hits him on the shoulder.<br />\tAldan unpacks his lunch and eats. Fried chicken, biscuits, cooked carrots, and a pecan-honey hand-cake. He tucks into the chicken, enjoying his wife&#039;s cooking. &ldquo;Well, Jack, until yesterday I was a guard at the prison.&rdquo; He points with a chicken leg towards the prison. &ldquo;I&#039;ve been regular army since I was a teenager. I&#039;ve fought in most of the wars and rebellions of the last twenty years.&rdquo; he looks at Jack. &ldquo;When you get to recent history, I&#039;d be happy to offer some perspective.&rdquo;<br />\tJack finishes his chicken leg, licking his fingers clean as he speaks with a full mouth. &ldquo;Well, there&#039;s a lot of scholars out there that read books and think they know how to help people just from that, but then there&#039;s people like you who might have it all figured out by experience. I&#039;m guessing that&#039;s the case for you.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan shrugs, &ldquo;Depends on what you&#039;re talking about. War and fighting? I have training and experience. Dealing with convicts? More experience than training. Dealing with condemned? That&#039;s all experience and what I&#039;ve taught myself.&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Well, I wish you good luck.&rdquo;<br />\tRaven hits him on the shoulder again, reminder him that he already said that. Eventually lunch comes to an end and the students prepare for their next classes. Raven asks, &ldquo;You want me to give a formal introduction to the students and let them know who you are? Make sure you&#039;re loud when you want their attention at first or else you&#039;ll never get them to listen to a word you say.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan nods. &ldquo;I think that&#039;s a good idea. I&#039;m not sure what to say. I don&#039;t want to scare them.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Well, too bad.&rdquo; She slaps him on the back as she walks up in front of the class. All of the students immediately look up at her. &ldquo;Everyone! We have a new member in our family! Please give a warm welcome to the new school counselor, Aldan!&rdquo; Everyone is still too busy pulling out their books to really hear or pay attention. Jack walks up beside her, crossing his arms, waiting for the students to pay attention.<br />\tAldan leans over to Raven, whispering. &ldquo;I could use my sword to get their attention, but I don&#039;t want to traumatize them?&rdquo;<br />\tRaven quickly puts her hand over her mouth, whispering back in a harsher tone. &ldquo;No, don&#039;t do that! Just yell something like &#039;hey&#039;.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan nods. He takes a step forward. He takes a deep breath. &ldquo;GOOD AFTERNOON, STUDENTS!&rdquo; He shouts with the voice of a 20-year veteran, projecting his voice to the furthest corners of the classroom. &ldquo;MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE!&rdquo;<br />\tAll of the students immediately shut up, almost shitting themselves in surprise. One of the kids responds, &ldquo;You have our attention!&rdquo; A few others laugh in response.<br />\tAldan relaxes, returning a more normal, father of four voice. &ldquo;My name is Aldan and I&#039;m the new. . .your new counselor. I&#039;m here to help each of you as best I can. You&#039;re welcome to my office anytime.&rdquo; He looks around. &ldquo;If anyone has any questions, I&#039;d be happy to answer while we have a few minutes.&rdquo;<br />\tNobody raises up their hands or responds. Instead, the kids speak to each other in whispers. One the kids blurts out. &ldquo;So we can see you whenever we want? Do we have to see you every day like our last counselor?&rdquo;<br />\tAldan tries to identify who spoke. He tries make eye contact. &ldquo;Whenever you want, but I&#039;ll meet with each of you once a week. Every day would be too much. I don&#039;t even like me that much!&rdquo; He grins at his own joke.<br />\tRaven walks over to Aldan and hushes down the class. &ldquo;Alright, alright. Now let&#039;s give Aldan a round of applause and then we&#039;ll be onto our ancient history studies.&rdquo; Two of the kids groan and complain while the others clap. She smiles and licks her lips as he walks away. It&#039;s obvious that she has a crush on him.<br />\tAldan pauses at the doorway. &ldquo;I&#039;ll be in my office if anyone needs me. Thank you, Mrs. Raven for letting me interrupt your lesson.&rdquo; He smiles and waves. He pops into the principal&#039;s office. &ldquo;Excuse me, Jeremen, but do you happen to have ink, pen, and paper? I couldn&#039;t find any in my office.&rdquo;<br />\tJeremen steps out of his chair, looking around his table for a moment. &ldquo;Sure. Everything alright?&rdquo; He walks over to him and hands him a handful of pens, a closed container of black ink, and a stack of thick papers.<br />\t&ldquo;Everything&#039;s fine. If every day is like today, this will be the easiest job that I&#039;ve ever had.&rdquo; He smiles again, taking the supplies. &ldquo;I just want to make a list of ideas for the children, working with them. As well as a reminder of things to bring from home.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Alright. Well, I&#039;ll let you be.&rdquo; He shuts his door as Aldan leaves. One of the students is already bugging a teacher about seeing him. Raven gives the go ahead and he follows along as Aldan walks to his office. The boy is chubby, short bright red hair, and wears glasses. He asks even before Aldan notices him following behind. &ldquo;Uh, Aldan? Can I talk to you for a moment?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Certainly.&rdquo; He leads the boy into his office. &ldquo;You can shut the door if you&#039;d like, then take a seat and tell me your name.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;Aldan sits and once the boy tells him his name, he looks for the lad&#039;s file.<br />\tThe boys name is Youenn Aubert, aged 14, placed into the school for repeatedly robbing from street vendors and for possessing starshatter after he was arrested. He lives with his mother as an only child. His report reads that he&#039;s made some progress but has had two incidents of relapse in the past. No history of abuse.<br />\t&ldquo;What can I do for you, Mr. Aubert?&rdquo;<br />\tThe redhead slumps down in his seat, twiddling his fingers as he looks around the room. &ldquo;Uh... I don&#039;t know. I guess I just feel down in the dumps, ya&#039; know?&rdquo;<br />\tAldan nods. &ldquo;I think so. Is everything okay at home?&rdquo;<br />\tHe nods. &ldquo;Yeah... We&#039;re pretty well off since my mother is a white mage.&rdquo; My Dad died when I was really young in the last war, so I never really knew him.<br />\t&ldquo;That must be hard. Just the two of you. Your mom probably has a hard time understanding how it is, being a boy and all.&rdquo;<br />\tHe sighs. &ldquo;I guess the reason I wanted to talk is because I want to go back and use. I&#039;m always thinking about it and if I get caught again, I&#039;ll have five years in the prison says the judge. What does it matter to him? I&#039;m only harming myself.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yeah.&rdquo; Aldan nods sympathetically. &ldquo;Well, and your mom, too. Your friends maybe. But if you want to spend your allowance on that, why should the judge care?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I know, right?&rdquo; He pouts, locking his arms. &ldquo;If I don&#039;t use starshatter for three months, then I can get out of this school and my charges and dropped, but what does it matter if I&#039;m going to go back and get high anyway?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;If you can go three months without it, why go back and use again? Would you like it more in another school?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I can&#039;t decide. This place is pretty cool and all.&rdquo; Youenn sits up a bit straighter. &ldquo;Then when I leave here and go back to my old school, I&#039;ll lose all of the friends and support I made here. It all seems so pointless.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan looks confused, &ldquo;Why not just stay here and finish school with us?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I don&#039;t know. You think you can ask Jeremen if I can?&rdquo;<br />\tAldan blinks and nods, &ldquo;Sure. Do you think that would help you stay away from the starshatter?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Maybe.&rdquo; Youenn bites his lip, nervous. &ldquo;Well, thanks for speaking to me. I think I&#039;ll get going back to class.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Youenn&hellip;&rdquo; Aldan says as the boy starts to leave. &ldquo;Even if you can&#039;t stay here, you can still come and talk to me. I&#039;ll make time, okay?&rdquo;<br />\tYoueen nods with a grateful smile. &ldquo;Okay. Thanks, Aldan! It&#039;s good to meet you.&rdquo; He disappears from the doorway view for a moment, then peaks back in for a brief second. &ldquo;Oh, and welcome to the family.&rdquo; And then he runs back off to his desk.<br />\tAldan sighs. It occurs to him that he had no idea what to say or do. He stands and goes to his window, staring out over the view. &ldquo;Gods, Drew, help me. I don&#039;t have any flippin&#039; idea what I&#039;m doing. It was so much easier when they were in cells and couldn&#039;t leave.&rdquo; He sighs and returns to his desk. Taking paper and ink, he makes small selection of carefully written notes and adds them to Youenn&#039;s file. Finished with that, he takes the top files and begins reading.<br />\tAldan runs by Lev&#039;s file. All of the information in it that you already know is there. Thirteen, half demon, half wolf, both parents deceased, killing them in self-defense. History of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Sexually assaulted by six men when he was seven. Violent tendencies and sporadic outbursts. Lives with his Grandparents. Relationship with his people is strained. Placed into the school after attacking two students. If it weren&#039;t for his Grandparents pleading for him, he would have been placed into prison for five years. The previous counselor writes that not only has he not made any progress, but his issues have seemed worsen. She writes that he&#039;s the highest priority student. It&#039;s also written that he speaks a lot about being lonely, afraid of himself, and has a deep hatred for the king.<br />\t&ldquo;Well, we&#039;re making progress on the lonely part.&rdquo; He shakes his head. &ldquo;And none of us are fond of the king these days.&rdquo; Aldan ponders the boy-wolf. &ldquo;Does he have issues with his temper because of what the shadow does to him? Or is the shadow drawn to him because of his anger? Are they even related.&rdquo; He thinks back to the genocidist. A wound to the chest may drive the shadow forth.<br />\tTime passes, but nobody comes by. It seems like all of the students are too busy in their studies or too shy to speak at the moment.<br />\tAldan makes a short list of things to bring from home for his office. He begins trying to come up with some sort of priority system for the students. He starts by reviewing their case files and sorting them into piles. One pile for seriously at-risk students, like Lev. Students that could readily pose a danger to themselves and others. Another pile for students that seem to be recovering and might soon be considered to return to their &#039;normal&#039; schools.&nbsp;&nbsp;A pile for students who aren&#039;t dangerous, but who would be put at risk returning to a normal school.<br />\tAfter an hour of reading and filing, with boredom setting in, Aldan visits the two classrooms. He stands at the door, just watching. He pays some extra attention to Lev and to Jay.<br />\tAs always, Lev sits in class with his book closed, bored as usual. Jay sits beside him, just barely able to pay attention. He looks like a tired zombie. Raven is walking around the classroom, looking at the student&rsquo;s progress on their science homework.<br />\tAldan chews on the inside of his cheek as he watches Lev and Jay. He tries to imagine what must go through their minds at times like this. Bored with school. Poor kids. Suddenly he stands and heads back to his office. He retrieves Jay&#039;s file and goes through it.<br />\tAldan puts Jay&#039;s file with Lev&#039;s. His top priorities among the students right now. Glancing out the window, he thinks for a moment. The prison runs on a set schedule. Soon, Gerald, the Warden, will taking his afternoon coffee. That would be the best time to make his proposal.<br />\tAldan informs the principal of his plan, and with permission, heads over to his former place of employment. Force of habit almost takes him back the guardroom, his guardroom, but he winds his way through corridors and up stairways until he arrives at the warden&#039;s office. He asks the attendant outside for a moment of Gerald&#039;s time. Then, with an effort, Aldan relaxes. After all, he&#039;s here as an educator, not an underling.<br />\tA few minutes pass before the warden exits his office, dressed in his armor and uniform, looking to Aldan with a confused grin. He&#039;s a bit old, maybe in his sixties, but very healthy for his age. He pauses before he speaks. &ldquo;Your commander says that you up and quit yesterday. I thought to myself, &#039;Aldan? One of my best guards quitting?&#039; It must be true by the way that you dress.&rdquo; He walks over to a table by his office, filling up his cup of coffee as he walks back into his office. It&#039;s dark inside, cluttered and small, the polar opposite of what principal Jeremen&#039;s office is like. &ldquo;What seems to be the deal, Aldan? Want your job back? I can make that happen. Need more money? Different shifts? Come. Sit down.&rdquo; He has to squeeze in between his desk and files just to get through to his chair.<br />\tAldan sits down. &ldquo;That&#039;s very good of you, sir. But just can&#039;t do it anymore. The kids. I can&#039;t. But that doesn&#039;t mean I don&#039;t want to do my bit. Just that my bit has changed since yesterday.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Ahh... What is it that upset you so much yesterday?&rdquo; He leans back in his chair, lighting a cigarette as he stares at you.<br />\t&ldquo;I oversaw a boy yesterday. And he seemed just a boy who&#039;d made some fucked up choices. Sold and used starshatter. Killed another who bought and couldn&#039;t pay. But, he wasn&#039;t evil.&rdquo; Aldan leans forward I understand the law. &ldquo;But next was ten-year-old girl. I just can&#039;t do it anymore. I have to try and get to them before they&#039;re coming here to have their heads lopped off.&rdquo; Aldan pulls his finger across his throat.<br />\t&ldquo;A ten-year-old girl?&rdquo; He exhales smoke from his nostrils. &ldquo;There is no such person in the prison fitting that description. Your commander must have been playing with you.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;He picked a poor time for such a joke.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yes, he did. What was his name again?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Commander Joshua?&rdquo;<br />\tAldan nods. &ldquo;Yes, sir.&rdquo; Aldan stands. &ldquo;It&#039;s a good thing I resigned. Otherwise, I&#039;d be looking at arrest for striking an officer...What kind of officer lies to his men about something like that?&rdquo; He paces, agitated, angry. &ldquo;Gods damn him for a fool! We&#039;re not playing a game down there.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;No, we&#039;re not... Sit down, Aldan! You&#039;re driving me mad walking around like that. We&#039;ll pay Joshua a visit after we&#039;re done speaking. Now you said you still want to do your bit. What do you mean by that?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry, sir.&rdquo; Aldan sits. &ldquo;We&#039;ll I&#039;ve landed at the school next door. As a counselor. Someone for the students to talk to, so they don&#039;t end up here, hopefully. I was thinking that perhaps a deal could struck where I could come in and talk to some inmates. The younger ones. The children. To try and make their last time easier? Maybe help them reconnect with what was taken from them that made them do whatever ended them up here. Essentially, what I&#039;ve always done, except I won&#039;t be helping kill them at the end.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I see. Congratulations on the new job then. You know, there&#039;s nothing wrong with rethinking what you want to do with your life. We can only be warriors on the battlefield for so long, right? Or else we&rsquo;d just be like Cruiberg. So you&#039;d like to be a counselor of such for them like they have in the other kingdom...&rdquo; He spins his chair to the other side, pulling out an application paper and sliding it over to him. Gerald puts out his cigarette, grabbing a pen and a tray of ink as well. &ldquo;We&#039;ve always had this job open, but nobody has taken it. You wouldn&#039;t be making as much money as you did though.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan nods. &ldquo;Well, I&#039;m sure we can come some fair agreement on that. I wouldn&#039;t expect to make as much, sir. I wouldn&#039;t be here ten hours a day, after all. And if it works well, there&#039;s always bonuses and perks&rdquo;. His face goes serious. &ldquo;But what of Joshua, sir? The next most senior man down there after me is Lt. Davyth. He&#039;s no fan of Joshua&#039;s either and when he finds out that the commander induced me to resign on a lie, you may lose him, too.&rdquo; He shakes his head in disgust. &ldquo;A man like that doesn&#039;t deserve your trust, sir. Pardon me if I&#039;m speaking out of turn.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Hold your tongue on Joshua for a moment. We&#039;ll get to him momentarily.&rdquo; He lights another cigarette, looking over the application again before turning it over to him. &ldquo;You know, I&#039;ve heard the rumors around the prison that you found your husband in one of our cells a few months ago. I don&#039;t quite understand it completely, but I trust you, Aldan, because you have always been a loyal and honest worker with me. It makes sense now that you would want this job.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;The rumors are true, sir.&rdquo; Aldan contains his sorrow in speaking of Drew, maintaining his mask of professional soldier. &ldquo;One of the convicts. Drew, the demon lad. We. . .were very happy for a very, very short time. I did my duty with him. As husband and guard. As lov . . .&rdquo; He catches himself. &ldquo;Excuse me, sir, as friend and executioner. I see things a little differently, sir. I guess for some men it&#039;s growing old that changes them. Or losing a child. Or drink, for the unlucky. For me, it was love.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I&#039;m sorry for your loss and what you had to go through, regardless of the crimes he committed. Now let&#039;s go over this application.&rdquo; He uses the pen to point at different bullets on the paper and goes through them with him. &ldquo;The job would require that you oversee the wellbeing of anyone held by us under the age of eighteen sentenced to execution. You would give them therapy, make sure their needs are being met, whether it&#039;s food or clothes or hygiene, if they are trying to contact their family, etcetera. There are never any more than nine in our prison under the criteria and never any less than three. It should keep you busy. You will not help in the executions like you did before, but it is suggested that you observe the executions for their wellbeing. But this is only a suggestion. You can sign here and here, and I will have you hired now. You can begin working tomorrow. Any questions?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Rate of pay, sir? And who do I answer to about the prisoners?&rdquo;<br />\tHe flips open to a different page to check. &ldquo;Thirty silver an hour. You&#039;ll answer to the other guards, their commander, or me.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I know the routines and regulations better than most of the other guards. And the watch commanders, too. If they give me latitude and work with me, I don&#039;t think we&#039;ll have any troubles, sir.&rdquo; Aldan signs. &ldquo;But if one of them hurts a prisoner without just cause or tries to start something. . .&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;If one hurts a prisoner, you will come to me and we will take care of the situation appropriately. Now onto Joshua.&rdquo; He lets his cigarette hang from his mouth as he goes through other papers. &ldquo;Ah hah... He&#039;s on duty right now. Row D where the women are held. Let&#039;s pay him a visit, shall we?&rdquo; He stands up, grabbing his sword and attaching it to his waist belt. He can&#039;t help but to laugh as he tries to squeeze his way out of the office again.<br />\tAldan stifles his laugh behind his hand. Checking his own sword belt, he falls in behind the warden. It doesn&#039;t occur to him at first that he doesn&#039;t have to follow two steps behind and one to the left. It&#039;s ingrained.<br />\tThe commander walks in front towards the main center hall, where many of the guards greet and bow to him. They make their way into D hall quickly. Gerald goes through a sleeve pocket for his master keys and walks by each cell carefully, trying to find Joshua. Eventually, they find him with a prisoner. Joshua has his pants down and he&#039;s raping a woman. She&#039;s naked and there&#039;s a puddle of blood coming from her. Joshua hits her and roars, &ldquo;If you try screaming again I&#039;ll have your head on a spike with your mouth around my cock!&rdquo;<br />\tThe cell door swings open and the commander stands to the side, letting Aldan walk in. Joshua immediately rolls over, stopping himself as he reaches to pull his pants up. The naked woman back away towards the wall and starts to cry. Gerald looks to Aldan, unsurprised. &ldquo;You remember asking me what would be done if someone harms a prisoner?&rdquo;<br />\tAldan&#039;s hand is on his sword. His face has gone absolutely calm. Few men have seen him with that look. Gerald was one of them. At the village so long ago. Aldan looks at the woman. &ldquo;What&#039;s her crime?&rdquo; He asks quietly.<br />\tJoshua answers, &ldquo;She&#039;s a killer and a whore! What does it matter what I do to her?&rdquo;<br />\tGerald yells. &ldquo;Silence, traitor! My inmates will be treated with dignity and respect regardless of what crimes they commit. Not only have you committed one of the worst crimes in the kingdom, but you have done so in my prison! This is a crime that goes against the warden! GUARDS!&rdquo; Four guards quickly run to the cell, standing outside. Observe this moment well and tell your fellow colleagues about this. He holds onto his sword, spitting with anger. &ldquo;By the power invested in me by the king and as warden, I sentence you, Joshua, to death for committing rape against an inmate. Aldan!&rdquo; He turns to him. &ldquo;Kill this man for me. Make him suffer. Make it slow.&rdquo;<br />\tJoshua wails out, crying, kicking his feet as he puts his pants back on and looks to his sword, which is on the bed. The girl has now balled up in the corner of the cell. &ldquo;Please, you must understand! She&#039;s only a whore! You can&#039;t do this!&rdquo;<br />\tGerald speaks louder. &ldquo;Aldan? Do you need me to take care of this for you?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;No, sir.&rdquo; Aldan walks in past Joshua. He grabs his sword from the bed. He pulls the blanket off and drapes it over the woman. &ldquo;You may not want to watch this.&rdquo; He stands and looks at Joshua. &ldquo;Then again, you may want to.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan looks at Joshua. &ldquo;Last words?&rdquo;<br />\tJoshua looks up to him and laughs hysterically. &ldquo;What&#039;s wrong? I didn&#039;t know you&#039;d take the joke that bad. Demon loving scum!&rdquo;<br />\tAldan draws Joshua&#039;s sword. &ldquo;I&#039;m going to kill with your own sword. So that at least once, it will have served an honorable purpose.&rdquo; He stands in front of Joshua. With a quick thrust and flick of his wrist, Aldan removes Joshua&#039;s left testicle. It flies across the room, squishing against the cell wall and sliding to the floor. &ldquo;We&#039;re going to remember you, Josh. All the guards. When a guard rapes an inmate because he can&#039;t get women at home, we&#039;ll call that &quot;A Joshua&quot;.&rdquo; Another thrust and wrist flick and the right testicle is removed. &ldquo;Whenever a guard shits his pants because he&#039;s too sick or drunk, we&#039;re going to call that &quot;A Joshua&quot;.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan takes a fencing stance, he feints at Joshua&#039;s legs, then shoulders, finally removing his penis. &ldquo;It looked a little lonely without your balls, so I thought it&#039;d be best to reunite them. Whenever a man can&#039;t get it up or please his lover, that&#039;s &quot;A Joshua&quot;.&rdquo;<br />\tHe kneels downs, just out of arms reach. &ldquo;I forget, Josh. Are you married? Do you have children?&rdquo;<br />\tJoshua is bleeding out to death, sobbing and wailing in pain, unable to speak. Gerald speaks for him. &ldquo;He has nobody at all. Nobody will miss him. Guards, are you watching?&rdquo; He looks to them, and they respond with a &#039;yes sir&#039;, standing still in amazement and disgust. &ldquo;Please, continue Aldan.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I guess they&#039;re lucky they don&#039;t exist. They don&#039;t have to know they were married to a coward, fathered by a coward.&rdquo; Aldan turns to the woman. &ldquo;Did he bite you? Punch you? Kick you?&rdquo;<br />\tShe pulls down the bedsheet, nodding, still traumatized and afraid. &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;One of you men, take her to the infirmary. She&#039;s been through enough.&rdquo; When the woman is taken away, Aldan drives his fist into Josh face. Three times into his mouth, until Joshua is spitting blood and teeth. &ldquo;That&#039;s for biting.&rdquo;<br />\tHe takes Josh&#039;s right hand and crushes it beneath his boot. Then does the same with the left hand. &ldquo;That&#039;s for striking a prisoner.&rdquo; Pulling his legs straight, he stomps down on Josh&#039;s ankles. &ldquo;That&#039;s for kicking a prisoner.&rdquo; He punches Josh two more times, then reaches into his mouth pulling out his tongue. He severs it with a quick stroke. &ldquo;That&#039;s for lying to me. And for talking about my husband.&rdquo;<br />\tOne of the guards pukes and Gerald grabs him by the shoulder, forcing him to watch on.<br />\tAldan stands and paces the cell. He pauses a few feet back, looking at Josh. &ldquo;Does it hurt yet? Does it sting just a bit?&rdquo; He walks back up to Josh and kneels beside him. Grabbing a handful of hair, he yanks Joshua&#039;s head back. He leans in close. &ldquo;Congratulations, Josh. You&#039;ve earned all of this. Every moment. More, even. But I have to get back to work. But you should be happy. You&#039;re the last person I&#039;m going to ever kill in the prison. Unless there&#039;s another war, the last stroke I make in anger. Good bye, Josh. I&#039;ll forget you by breakfast.&rdquo; Aldan draws the blade slowly, deeply across Josh&#039;s throat. He keeps him pointed away from himself or the others so the spray doesn&#039;t soil them. And when the spray is only a gurgle and Josh&#039;s eyes begin to dim, Aldan stands and goes back to the door. He looks back at Josh&#039;s remains, smiling at him. He turns to the warden and other guards, &ldquo;I&#039;ll do worse to any man who abuses a child inmate.&rdquo;<br />\tGerald lights another cigarette, pacing around the cell as he looks at the mess. &ldquo;Guards! You will clean this room and dispose of his body. Notify any extended family of his of his crimes and that his remains will not be found. Have them burned outside. As you clean his body please take into consideration how serious I am about the wellbeing of my inmates.&rdquo; Gerald exits, following him back down the hallway. &ldquo;Are you okay, Aldan? I was not expecting to see him doing that when I opened the door. No. What was on my mind was to have him fired in front of you. Come up to my office and I will pay you for what you have just done. Three hundred silvers. Consider it a bonus.&rdquo;<br />\tAldan nods. He briefly considers refusing the money. But with the baby coming. And it might let him do some things for the students. He follows Gerald back to the office. His mind is calm, which unnerves Aldan. He should be feeling something. But he&#039;s not. It&#039;s as if he just swatted a fly away from Whirlwind&#039;s flank.<br />\tGerald goes back to his desk, fetching out a bag of coins, which he throws down in the middle of the table to him. He takes the signed paper, tucking it away in a file, then moves his chair over to the right, going through more folders. &ldquo;Ah, yes. Before you leave, I&#039;ll need to find out who it is you&#039;ll be working with. Any information new inmates that fit the criteria will be given to you by me. You said you&#039;re working as a counselor at the rehabilitation school, yes? How many do you have there?&rdquo;<br />\tAldan looks up.&rdquo; Still somewhat detached from himself Sir? I&#039;m not sure exactly. No more than twenty.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Ahh.. So you&#039;ll be quite a busy man then.&rdquo; He makes further small talk as he gathers the files, slapping them against the desk and putting his cigarette out. &ldquo;Alright. You can take these home with you if you&#039;d like or leave them in your old cabinet.&rdquo; He flips through them, reaching for his stack of cigarettes, which are now empty. &ldquo;You have six on your caseload here. Five of them are new and one of them has been in for two weeks now. You&#039;re free to leave whenever you want now. Make sure you take your money, though, Aldan.&rdquo; He tries to snap Aldan out of it by raising his voice in a more serious tone when he says his name.<br />\tAldan looks up. He blinks a few times. He shakes his head slightly and clears his throat. &ldquo;Yes. I will, sir.&rdquo; He stands and gathers the files. He tucks the sack of coins in his tunic. He starts to salute, catches himself, and instead extends his hand to the warder. &ldquo;I won&#039;t let you down, Gerald.&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;I know you want, Aldan. You&#039;re a very, very brave man for taking this job. I think very highly of you. You do know that, yes?&rdquo; He takes Aldan&#039;s hand in a firm handshake, then lets go to walk him out of the office. &ldquo;Forget about Joshua. Nothing like that will ever happen again in this prison after what you did. My good sir, I&#039;ll see you tomorrow, yes?&rdquo;<br />\t&ldquo;Yes, sir. I&#039;ll try to have a plan, or at least an outline for you of how I hope to proceed. Good evening, sir.&rdquo; Aldan leaves, slowly making his way through the halls. He wonders how far the story&#039;s gotten already. He exits the prison and takes a few deep breaths outside. Clutching his pendant, he looks at it, before kissing it reverently.&rdquo; I&#039;m sorry, Drew, my love. Forgive me.&rdquo; Clearing his throat, Aldan spits in the street before heading back to the school and office to go over the new files.<br />\tHalfway through Aldan&#039;s walk to the school the purple stone illuminates before his eyes. It stays lit even after he notices it, the light only fading out a minute later.<br />\tAldan smiles and head in. &ldquo;You always were a better demon-boy husband than I deserved.&rdquo;<br /><br /></span>","pools_count":1,"title":"Lev's Tale - Chapter Six","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"application/msword","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"2","rating_name":"Adult","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"4","name":"Sexual Themes","description":"Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal","rating_id":"2"},{"content_tag_id":"5","name":"Strong Violence","description":"Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death","rating_id":"2"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"t","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"0","views":"119","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}