by M. D. Grimm
Enfernlo managed to kill the fire, and I stumbled toward the dialens. Breathing rapidly, I looked around and saw the tribe breaking free of their bonds, the sorcerer having obviously left. That was it? Sheer destruction without waiting to see the result? What had he accomplished except...?
"Aishe!" I shouted, running around the huts, looking at the dialens. "Where is he?" I demanded.
"He took him," Kai said, coming forward, a cut ran along her forehead and down her arm.
"That sorcerer just came and took Aishe."
I stood, frozen, and felt just as cold as the farthest, darkest reaches of the multi-verse. Images of Aishe flooded my mind, his voice flooded my ears, and desire for Kayl's head on a pike flooded my veins. I gritted my teeth as cold fury settled on my bones, and I vaguely noticed the dialens backing away from me.
Aishe had accepted me, stuck with me despite my insults, right from the beginning. He had shown interest in me, in me, not because of what I could get for him, but because of who I was. He wanted to know me, wanted to love me. And I had rejected him for that very reason. He was my weakness. I would risk anything to get him back. Even knowing that, even knowing Kayl might be setting a trap, I could do nothing but follow and protect.
I pulled out the crystal that had Aishe's hair wrapped around it and said a word, re-powering it to guide me to the dialen. It swung around in a circle once before pointing solidly southwest. Near the ocean, no doubt. I said nothing to the dialens and walked to Enfernlo, who waited, his pupils thin and the blue of his eyes darkened, the only evidence of his anger.
We would have to be stealthy. The sorcerer would know I would go after Aishe; he would be watching. I was going to destroy him. I was going to dance on his corpse and string it up by his guts. Enfernlo launched us into the air, and I pointed in the direction the crystal did. He flapped hard in the southwestward direction, the crystal our only guide.
***
We never stopped, never rested, and it was near nightfall when we reached the sorcerer's hideout. By hideout, I mean eyesore. I had been right about the big, black, phallic symbol for a tower. It was a thick, black, and not-so-elegant round tower. It really just looked like a large penis. There was no imagination whatsoever and confirmed that this guy was majorly compensating.
I waved my hand around us, and we became invisible as Enfernlo flew us around the tower. I felt the magical enchantments, the protective cloak around the place. It protected against frontal assaults and blasts of power meant to knock over the place. It didn't keep me from entering, yet I knew it would probably suck out most of my power to do so. Maybe half to pass the threshold. Damn.
Flying around the tower, we followed the crystal, which pointed straight up towards the only window which pointed at the sea and the main area of land. The direction limited view of both attack points. Not real good when you should be looking out for invaders. This guy wasn't very smart. Sure it might look nice, the whole tower-with-onewindow thing, but it wasn't very practical.
I heard the scream, and it nearly shattered my control. I knew it was Aishe.
"En," I hissed and pushed against his scales, trying to make him fly forward.
"Easy," he said mentally.
I swallowed my impatience, and it felt like acid. Enfernlo hovered silently in front of the window. I had to be smart about this. I had to make sure both of us came out alive. Calmer, but still shaking with fury, we flew closer to the window and hovered, unnoticed. The magickal charge singed my skin, burning and yanking. I ignored it and suddenly saw the little torture chamber the sorcerer had built in his phallic tower room.
Think medieval, think Inquisition, think the rack, hot pokers, and iron maidens. Even I wasn't that deranged. I didn't torture. I was a villain, but I didn't gleefully poke creatures’ eyes out. I found that just disgusting. Aishe was currently strung up by his wrists, shirtless, his toes barely touching the floor, and there were whip marks on his back. The blood slid down his body, dripping onto the stone floor, pooling like a red lake.
Oh yeah, I was going to unleash Hell on this murderous bastard.
"Tell me where he is," Kayl said, still looking like a golden prince, but those looks only hid a sick mind. He walked around Aishe and occasionally poked him with the butt of the whip. Poking him in his wounds.
"I told you, fleyan," Aishe spat. "He's dead, you laviian."
I felt pride in Aishe, and I wanted to cheer for him. He was strong, and he had courage. I was not going to fail him. Kayl cracked the whip, and it lashed against Aishe's back, making him scream. I nearly launched myself at him. No, no that wouldn't do. I had to listen and watch, no matter how painful. First and foremost, I had to get Aishe out of here, and then come back for the torturous dickcheese.
Aishe struggled to breathe and glared at the sorcerer, never breaking.
"I know he's alive." There was impatience in Kayl’s voice. "Only he could have created that barrier. Where is he, dialen? If you don't tell me, I start breaking bones."
"Go ahead," Aishe snarled. "If he's alive, he will come. Then he'll make you weep for mercy. You are no match even with that cursed stone. You're nothing without it, and that makes you weak and pathetic."
Kayl backhanded Aishe, and the sound of the impact reverberated through my soul. I launched toward the window, but Enfernlo reared up, preventing me from giving us away.
"Wait a moment, we have to plan," he insisted. I growled but nodded, telling myself to breathe.
"Think, Lazur," En demanded.
His use of my birth name brought me out of my rage. It jarred me enough for me to gain control over my emotions. I hated the name, but Enfernlo had known it upon our meeting -- how, I did not know.
"Okay." I exhaled and felt the hot fury turn cold once more and settle. "What do you need me to do?"
Enfernlo flew once more around the tower. "Payshtha's fire should take care of the barrier. Once you feel it crumble, go in and save your friend. I will fly us away, and I will guard us until my brethren come. I will heal Aishe. Then we will attack."
"Remember to tell your brethren that Aishe has to kill him," I insisted.
Enfernlo looked at me over his shoulder. "I remember." He drew back his neck and expanded his chest. I braced my body and waited for the ferocious heat of payshtha's fire to hit the tower.
My friend never disappointed.
The fireball surged out of Enfernlo's mouth and twined around the base of the tower before rapidly rising, the colors shifting and the heat sinking into my bones. Payshthas' fire was nothing to play around with. I felt the magickal barrier waver and become thin and shaky. The fire burned through it, and no matter how powerful Rambujek made the sorcerer, there was nothing that could withstand a payshtha's fire.
The barrier snapped, and Enfernlo flew around to the window. I leapt from his back and surged inside, removing my invisibility. I had already built a strong punch of force and unleashed it as soon as I landed. Kayl turned to me in complete shock, and the force slammed him through the wooden door behind him, and through the stone wall of the tower itself, flinging him over the cliff and into the water that churned underneath. I took one of the wicked knives on the torture table and sliced through the rope that was holding Aishe. The dialen was just as shocked as the sorcerer. The heat from Enfernlo's fire began to sear the bottoms of my boots, and I caught Aishe in my arms as he fell and hauled him to the window. I flung us over the side, and Enfernlo ceased his fire blasts to fly up and catch us.
I held Aishe tightly, although I knew I was causing him pain. He clung to me, his arms around my neck and his face buried in my chest. I gripped one of Enfernlo's large scales with one hand, my other around Aishe's back and his blood soaked my sleeve. I spoke to him and tried to comfort him, to keep him from dying of shock.
Enfernlo flew south, away from where I had flung the sorcerer, and it wasn't long before he dipped low, close enough to the waves for the water to spray on me. He veered sharply left and headed straight into a cave. We had gone
a long distance despite the short flight.
We landed, and I carried Aishe off of Enfernlo and stood for a moment, concentrating on the blankets on my bed at home. My desire for them was great, and I figured that would cancel out the distance between them and me. I flicked my wrist towards the ground and relief flooded through me when several blankets appeared. The adrenaline began to wear off, and Aishe grew heavy. I managed to set him on the blankets carefully and gently. I rolled him slowly onto his stomach and wrung out my arms. He had a good fifty pounds on me, from his height and muscle, and my arms just weren't up for it.
I flicked my wrist and with a word created a small fire next to us that would give us warmth as well as offer light.
"Mine will last longer," Enfernlo said, sitting and folding his wings.
"Have at it then," I snapped and stared at the mess the sorcerer had made of Aishe's back. My hands clenched.
"I have never seen you care for someone like this," Enfernlo said softly. I stared at Aishe, who was unconscious, and said nothing.
"I will heal him," Enfernlo offered. "Perhaps you should step outside, and the night wind will calm you. Aishe is safe. We will get Rambujek back."
I took his advice and left, my body stiff and my arms sore. I stepped outside and leaned my head back. The night was cool and went a long way to chill my temper. As I stood out there, gazing at the sky, I couldn't understand how I could be in love with someone I had known less than a week. That couldn't be logical or reasonable. I looked down at my sleeve and saw Aishe's blood clinging to it, reminding me how close I had come to losing him. Trembling, I spoke a word and the blood disappeared. But I still saw it. I would always know what it felt like on my hands and how it smelled -- iron and spicy to my nose.
I closed my eyes and did my best to push those memories aside. The stars laughed at me as they winked, and the moon was full and clear. I soaked her up, feeling the magick she offered seep into my bones and down to my core. I did become calm, and I was soothed. The damn payshtha was always right.
I hated that. If my mentor and the payshtha were always right, then that meant I was always wrong. That couldn't be right. I wasn't always wrong. "Lazur?"
My heart jumped into my throat. It wasn't Enfernlo who had called me, it was Aishe. And I remembered, with some trepidation, that I had told Aishe my real name, when I'd thought I was dying. Great, now I had to hear it from him, too.
I walked back into the cave and couldn't help but smile when I saw that Aishe was sitting up. Enfernlo had used his fire to heal Aishe's wounds, to knit his skin back together, and he wouldn't have any scars. En was currently in the back of the cave, lying down, his tail wrapped around his body and feet, and his wings folded on his back. His blue eye gleamed in the dark and watched me with amusement. I sneered at him before giving my full attention to Aishe.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, kneeling in front of him. He reached forward and grabbed my hands, and the suddenness of the contact rocked me.
"You came for me." He stared at me with awe, and I felt a blush heat my face. "You do care. You didn't mean those things you said before."
His voice was thick, and I saw the gleam of tears in his eyes. I swallowed hard and didn't pull my hands away from his grip. In fact, I found myself hanging on, enjoying the contact, realizing I needed it. He was safe and well, and he would stay that way.
"No, I didn't mean it. Any of it," I whispered. "But I had my reasons for saying it."
Aishe leaned into me, his arms around my waist, his head on my chest, and the heat from his body seeped into my bones, warming me like nothing else could. My pulse jittered and my arms trembled, but I still held him. I didn't pull back. I was completely unable to even imagine shoving him away.
"What reasons could you have for being so nasty?" Aishe asked. "For breaking my heart?"
I closed my eyes and squeezed them tight, my hands wanting to stroke the flesh under them. He was warm and without his tunic, only his leggings offered any warmth from the cold night wind. Kayl the jackass had even taken his boots, damn him to everlasting hellfire. If only we had hellfire -- but I did imagine Kayl choking on the noxious fumes of the Underworld and that made me marginally happier. So I held him and warmed him.
"You're safer if you're away from me," I said, pressing my cheek against his hair. "I can't care about you, and I do, but after this...we just need to split."
"No." Aishe held me tighter. "We stay together. Think about it, Lazur. If anything, I should always b e with you; it's when I'm not that I keep getting into trouble. First the helioon, and then the sorcerer. Both times you weren't there. Added to that, I want to be with you."
I shook my head. "See, that's what I don't understand. Why do you want to be with me? What have I done to earn any of your attention?"
Aishe lifted his head and met my eyes. "Should I make you a list? You have done so many incredible things since I've met you, Lazur."
I frowned, but when he kissed my chin, then my cheek, most of my thoughts and resistance fled. I had to close my eyes and dig deep for any control.
"Aishe." There was a plea in my voice I couldn't quite get rid of.
The dialen chuckled. "Don't worry, your virtue is safe. At least until the sorcerer is dead. Then, plan on getting fucked."
I jerked in shock and wondered if I'd taught him too well. My face heated, and he grinned. I felt like a damn fool.
"Aishe, you're not listening to me." I said, trying to stay calm and steady. "I'm not a good bet. I'm a villain. I'm the seventh son of a seventh son. You know what that means. You know how they ended up, right? One self-destructed, and the other was killed by the high mages. Both were monsters, Aishe. They tortured, mutilated, destroyed. They had a bloodlust that rivaled revenais'."
Why doesn't he understand? I gripped his shoulders. "All evidence points to the fact that I will end up the same way. I don't want to hurt you."
Aishe rose to his knees and cupped my face with both of his hands. He looked me straight in the eye, and I couldn't look away.
"You're not listening to me either, Lazur," he whispered. "I see you, the real you. You haven't done one selfish or monstrous thing since I've met you. You protected Happy Valley, you repaired what Kayl broke. You protected Elissya's town, the Lania tribe, and me. You find stones and keep them, protecting Karishian from their destruction. How is any of that selfish or monstrous?"
His words painted me like some guardian, a protector. But I knew the truth, and yet I found myself yearning that what he said was the truth.
"You're alone, and you're scared," Aishe said. "You've been living with the image of yourself that your dreadful family and those mages put inside your head. Their poisonous words still repeat inside that smart head of yours, inside that big heart. You see yourself the way they saw you -- as a villain, as a menace. But you have a choice, Lazur. You will become what you want to become."
He paused. "The Mother gives us choices, Lazur. Not everything she writes is set in stone. I want to help you understand yourself."
"Listen to him, Lazur," Enfernlo said, his voice echoing.
"Stay out, En." But I felt something spark inside me, and it was almost painful.
"And you're forgetting something, Lazur," he said with a small smile. "You have one thing that they didn't have."
I frowned. "What?"
"Me," he said cheerfully.
My mouth twitched, and I felt my resolve begin to rapidly crumble. "Aishe --"
"You won't become a monster," Aishe said, his voice confident. "You won't hurt me."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Lazur." His voice was filled with affection. "You've done nothing but save my life since we met. Why would you suddenly change and hurt me?"
I shook my head slightly.
"Why would Master Ulezander have taught you, trained you if he thought you would become a monster? He knew you were a seventh son of a seventh son, didn't he?"
I nodded solemnly.
"Well? If y
ou're such a threat, why didn't he just kill you then?"
"Because," I said softly, "he told me he would train me with respect and kindness. That would allow me to see the world in a different light. I was to understand the light and dark in the world. He wanted a balanced view for me."
"And did he give that to you?" Aishe asked.
I looked at him. "I think so. But it doesn't change anything."
"Yes, it does, Lazur," he insisted. "If you had stayed with your family and continued on the path they wanted for you, then you would have become a monster. Because you would have had no choice. But now, you do."
He kissed me lightly. "They can't hurt you anymore," he said softly. "You need me. You know you do. I need you, too."
"No, you don't." My hands gripped his wrists. "What do you get out of all this? I'm --"
"Hush, mage." He kissed me, and his lips were warm and soft. It was tender, and I felt the passion shivering through his body.
He pulled back and smiled. His eyes were so damn green and happy.
"You came after me, Lazur," Aishe said. "You came after the sorcerer for me. You have a heart, a good heart. I would never hurt it. Let me prove it to you."
"You will if you die," I said, before thinking about it. Aishe's eyes softened, and he hugged me. My hands dug into his back, confusion and doubt rocking the foundation of myself I had built years ago.
"I can trust you to protect me," he said. I pressed a kiss to his neck, and he snuggled closer. "And as for what I get out of it -- I get you."
I looked at Enfernlo, who was smiling, and I knew what he was thinking. He'd always told me that there was someone for me out in the wide world. I would know them when I met them, and, damn it, I did. Aishe was mine, but to live a life with him, to accept him, to make love with him... I didn't know if I could.
