by C. W. Gray
Fire skipped back to him. “Can I carry the baby? Is he our son too? What’s his name?”
Quigley’s mouth opened and closed a few times as he struggled to find the right words. “Cyrus is my nephew, but now I’ll raise him as my son. Our son? Are you sure you want that?”
Fire took Cyrus out of his carrier and cuddled him close. “Mates share their family. That’s how it works. Gram is mine. Aster is mine. David is mine. Cyrus is mine. All of you are mine. Even Gracie.”
“You are… You honor me, Fire.” Quigley helped him strap Cyrus to his chest, the baby watching them curiously the entire time.
A short time later, they were all mounted and on their way. Fire held the spare Oryx’s reins in one hand and wrapped his other arm around Quigley’s waist. He cooed and chattered to Cyrus and the Oryx as they made their way closer to the Burnished Chieftain’s city.
Hours later, they stopped to make camp. David and Aster worked to make their campfire and Gram started dinner. Fire helped him unload the Oryx and tether them a short distance away from the camp.
Fire’s nose wrinkled. “Baby boy needs a diaper change.”
Quigley chuckled. “Hand him here, and I’ll take care of it.”
“I can do it,” Fire said, bottom lip pushed out. “I’ll be a good daddy.”
“I know you will,” Quigley agreed. “If you don’t mind changing him, I’ll keep setting up camp.”
Fire grinned. “I got this.”
Quigley left him to it, laughing aloud when he heard Fire gag when he took Cyrus’s diaper off. Sara’s son was a stinky one.
His smile faded as he thought of Sara. They hadn’t had time to mourn her as they focused on making it to Star’s Oasis, but that was often how life worked. Gods, I hope you’re at peace with Helara, Sara.
After a dinner of rabbit and rice, they gathered around the campfire. Quigley leaned against his packs, David and Aster cuddled against his sides, while Gram fed Cyrus. Fire stood in front of them.
“Tell us your story, please,” David said, eyes focused on Fire. “I wanna know where you come from.”
Fire grinned. “A long, long time ago, I was just a little fire racing around my home world, Genarg. The planet was really nice to me, and I remember it whispering to me. It told me the best places to run and play.”
Quigley stared at Fire. This had not been how he pictured Fire’s story beginning.
Fire’s voice turned wistful. “I spent a long time that way. Sometimes I miss it, but it was really lonely.”
“You didn’t have anyone to play with,” David said, nodding in agreement. “I would have been lonely too.”
“Eventually, the people on Genarg started making villages, then towns, then cities.” Fire scowled. “They were the Crells, and they were really loud and fought a lot. I hated it.”
“Did you talk to them?” Aster asked, hands reaching toward the warmth of the campfire. Desert nights were cold.
Fire wrinkled his nose. “No. They always got scared when I came close.” His expression turned contemplative. “Then the planet talked to some of them and taught them how to see the spirit world around them. Those were the Crellic shamans.”
“What do you mean they could see the spirit world?” Aster asked, leaning toward Fire.
Fire tapped his chin. “All around us is a thin layer that separates us from the spirit world. It’s a place that shows the spiritual connection between everything. I can see it when I try, but I can’t touch the threads connecting everything.”
“Threads,” Aster whispered, frowning. “Everything is connected.”
Fire crouched down. “Yeah. Like when I look, I can see the connections between all of you.” He frowned. “Wait, you didn’t make our babies yourself?”
Quigley gave him a shocked look. “You can see that? David and Aster are my adopted children.”
“They’re still our babies,” Fire said, nodding firmly. “The connection between you all is strong and solid. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t help make them. You love them and they love you.”
“You’re saying the Crellic shamans could see this world?” Gram asked, patting Cyrus’s back as the baby burped loudly.
Fire smiled again and nodded. “Yep. Genarg helped them learn to see it and trained them to use that gift to help the Crells. They could touch and manipulate the connections to the world around them. Some could wield fire like me or make the rain fall or even make plants grow.”
“How did that work out?” Quigley asked. “I can’t imagine the clans with that kind of power.”
Fire gave him a sad look. “Genarg was so sad when the shamans made the fighting worse. They were selfish and only cared about their own villages. They used their gifts to hurt others.”
David sniffled. “You had to watch it all happen?”
Fire nodded, his own lip trembling. “I wanted to help, but I didn’t know how.” He turned his face up to the stars. “Then she came.”
“Who?” Gram asked, looking as fascinated as the rest of them.
“My Queen,” Fire whispered. “She had a name of her own, but she will always be my Queen when I remember her. She was a shaman and wanted the Crells to stop fighting and the world to be at peace. She worked with her most trusted shamans and created a ritual to summon the elements to fight beside her and unite the Crells.”
“That’s how you got a body?” David asked, looking him over. “You don’t look that old.”
Fire grinned. “This isn’t my first body. When she did the ritual, I heard her call and answered. I wanted to help. Six Crells sacrificed their own lives to give the Queen’s elements forms. The soul in my first body even said goodbye to me before he left. That body was big and green. I had long black hair and short tusks.”
“Whoa,” David said, eyes wide. “What did your feet look like?”
“They were huge,” Fire said excitedly. “I didn’t even have to wear shoes because the bottom of my feet were rough. I loved that body.”
Quigley chuckled at Fire’s expression of joy.
“Was the Queen able to save the Crells?” Aster asked, bringing them back into the story.
Fire nodded. “We did it. We united the Crells, and after the fighting ended, she led them peacefully. We lived out that cycle protecting the Crells and squashing any fighting before it started.”
“We?” Gram asked, tilting her head. “You weren’t the only element?”
“Nope. There were five others. This cycle we call them Water, Air, Life, Earth, and Death. Earth and Death are my friends, but the others were always jerks.” Fire narrowed his eyes. “They liked hurting people.”
“Were they really mean?” Aster asked.
Fire nodded furiously. “Death always had to go and stomp Water, Air, and Life’s butts. He kept them in line.”
“What happened when your body grew old?” David asked.
“It died,” Fire said, shrugging. “I went back to being a flame. Genarg was happy with me too.”
“How did you end up here in this body, then?” Quigley asked. “Not that I’m complaining. I have my mate, and you’re the most amazing being I’ve ever met.”
Fire preened. “Thank you, love muffin.”
Gram snorted and the kids giggled.
Quigley winced. “Love muffin?”
Fire nodded. “That’s your pet name. Sebby and Alois have pet names too. It’s what mates do.”
Gram laughed hard. “He has you there, love muffin. You’ll have to deal with it.”
“Anyway,” Fire said, standing back up. “The Crells didn’t stay peaceful after our cycles ended. They remembered the power of my Queen though. A long time after our bodies died, they summoned us again. They messed it up though. The Queen’s soul was brought back, but it was corrupted.”
Fire gave Quigley a distressed look, then ran to him and climbed in his lap.
Quigley and the others hugged him, and Fire seemed to settle down a bit.
“Was it bad?” David ask
ed.
Fire shivered. “It was really bad. She wasn’t my Queen anymore. She was a monster and made me do things. Horrible things. Eventually, the Crells would manage to kill us, but generations later, they’d bring us back, and it would happen all over again.”
“I’m so sorry,” Quigley said, kissing the side of his head. “I wish you never had to suffer such things.”
Fire swallowed hard and nodded. “The Crells killed themselves fighting. This last time we were brought back by others. The Queen tried to destroy the whole galaxy, but we stopped her. Death and Sebby saved me from her, and we fought back. Now, her soul is her own again, and we’ll never be summoned to kill people. Not ever.”
“Good,” Quigley managed to say. He hugged Fire and the kids tightly. “Now you can just live.”
“With you,” Fire said, placing a soft kiss on his chin. “My mate.”
5
Fire listened to David and Gram’s loud snores. They’re worse than Mordy, he thought with a grin. He lay with Quigley a distance from the campfire, but he could still hear them. How Cyrus was managing to sleep between the two was a mystery. Aster was the only graceful sleeper.
He rolled his head on Quigley’s arm and stared at his mate’s profile.
Quigley’s lips twitched. “Go to sleep.”
“Why can’t we have sex?” he whispered.
“I don’t want the kids to be traumatized,” Quigley said, chuckling. “We don’t have the tent set up, so we have no privacy. Is it so hard to wait?”
Fire sighed. “I guess not. It’s just I never got to have sex before. I wasn’t interested during my first cycle and was too busy trying to resist the Queen’s control in all my others. This is the first time I’ve ever even wanted to try it.”
His mate’s muscular body was right there too. Fire didn’t understand how people possibly resisted their mates.
“Why haven’t you tried it?” Quigley asked, giving him a curious look. “You said you’ve lived in peace at Charybdis for a few years now.”
“Charybdis Station,” Fire corrected and pointed up at the sky. “It’s somewhere up there. It’s not supposed to be a planet, but it feels like one. It talks to me like Genarg did.”
Quigley whistled softly. “People built a planet? That’s beyond amazing.”
Fire nodded. “They’re really good people too. I love them.”
“You didn’t want any of them?” Quigley asked. “Not that it’s a bad thing if you didn’t. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that every person is different in what they need. I managed to find a few men when my clan would meet with other clans, and it offered some comfort. If I was attracted to women, it would have been easier.”
Fire made a face. He didn’t like thinking about his mate with other people. “I tried to want people, but I only wanted a few people like that and they were my friends, so it didn’t seem right to try and sex them up.”
“‘Sex them up’?” Quigley asked, voice full of amusement.
Fire nodded. “I didn’t let them see all my glorious sexiness, but don’t worry. You’ll get to see it all. I have really pretty underwear back on the ship. I got them from my friend Finn. He tried to teach me aerial silk dancing, but I set his favorite silk on fire, so he just gives me pretty underwear now.”
Quigley cleared his throat and shifted under the blanket. “I didn’t know underwear could be pretty.”
“You’ll see,” Fire said, patting his chest. “Anyway, my dick kinda liked my friends Shae, Juniper, and Donnal. Not as much as it likes you though.”
“This may be the strangest conversation I’ve ever had,” Quigley said, “and I’ve had some really weird ones with my sister.”
Fire paused at the pain that filled his mate’s voice when he said ‘sister.’ “Quigley? What happened to her? She should be here with Cyrus.”
Quigley sighed. “Sara was a surprise to Mom and Dad when she came along. She was ten years younger than me. A couple of years after she was born, Mom and Dad died while out on a hunt. Gram and Grandpa took us in, but I did my best to raise Sara so they could focus on keeping us alive.”
“I’m sorry,” Fire whispered, eyes watering. He hated the pain he felt in his mate. So much pain.
“Our clan isn’t a very good one.” Quigley pulled Fire closer and ran a hand down his back. “There are certain things they don’t like. They only wanted us to read and speak the old language, the one the Burnished used before offworld settlers came to our planet. The clan elders wanted us to be strong and hard hearted. Anything not of our world or even anything simply different wasn’t allowed.”
“That’s stupid,” Fire said, scowling.
“Grandpa taught us all the common language.” Quigley waved toward his face. “You can hear that though. All the clans speak it, but ours was trying to stomp it out.”
“Sebastian calls it Galactic,” Fire said, nuzzling against Quigley’s neck. “Sebby is really smart and knows all kinds of languages.”
“I wish I did. The clan elder would have killed us if they overheard us speaking Galactic, even though most of us learned at least bits and pieces of it.” Quigley leaned back a little and pulled the blanket down. “There were reasons my family didn’t want to draw attention to itself.”
Fire watched with wide eyes as Quigley pulled his long tunic up. The moonlight shone brightly on his muscled stomach and chest. It took a moment for Fire to notice the Wello dots mixed in among Quigley’s markings.
Fire slid a hand over the long, thin, barely there line dissecting Quigley’s abdomen. “You have Wello blood. You can have babies.”
“Maybe,” Quigley said. “I don’t know. Grandpa said that some with the birthing line can and some can’t. Either way, the clan never let anyone born with a birthing line live.”
Fire scowled. “I don’t like them.”
“Me neither,” Quigley said, releasing a heavy breath. He pulled the blanket back up and over his chest. “We hid it from my dad since he was very traditional. When Sara had Cyrus, I was there. His line is a lot like mine and half hidden by markings. The clan found out. When Sara ran away from the clan to meet us, they chased her. She gave me Cyrus and stayed to hold them off.”
“That’s what you were going to do.” Fire wiped at his tears. “You were going to die for them.”
“That’s what she did,” Quigley said quietly. “I just wanted to keep them safe. They would kill all of them, not just Cyrus and me.”
“I won’t let them hurt you,” Fire said. “I’ll be like Fluffle and protect my family.”
“You’ve already saved my life,” Quigley said, smiling. “We’re survivors. If given half a chance, we’ll be just fine.”
“I want you to be more than fine,” Fire said, sniffing. “You have to be happy too.”
Quigley kissed the side of his head again, and Fire huffed. He wanted a real kiss.
“By the way, who is Fluffle?”
Fire smiled wide. “The fiercest being in all the galaxy. The only one who comes close to him is his person, Selene. Together, they’re unstoppable.”
“Hmm, I hear a little hero worship in your voice.” Quigley chuckled.
“Who was your hero?” Fire asked, yawning. The long day was starting to catch up to him.
“That’s easy. Gram and Grandpa. They taught Sara and I how to survive, but they also taught us how to love. They were true mates and honored one another. I thought Gram would die when we lost Grandpa, but she pushed through for me and the kids.”
“Do you miss him?” Fire asked, sad. He wished Gram still had her mate and Quigley his grandpa.
“Every day. He liked to tell us the stories of our gods.” Quigley pointed up at the smaller, gold moon hanging in the sky. “Have you ever heard the story of Helara?”
“Nope.” Fire snuggled in close. His mate was the best snuggler ever. Even better than Mordy, though Fire would never tell the baby so.
“Gram told us the story when we were kids. Long before t
he offworlders came, long before our traditions were founded, there was the first clan, Braxia, home of the Burnished gods. Each god had their place in the clan. Some were protectors, some were hunters, some were nurturers. While each of them had a purpose and were honored, they fought among each other. Maybe they wanted more recognition or a higher rank in the clan. Whatever the case, there was plenty of petty backstabbing and machinations. Despite this, all of them, every last one, honored and respected one god, Helara. They called him the heart of the clan.”
“Why?” Fire asked, blinking sleepily.
“Helara was joy, love, and peace, all in one. He comforted the gods when they were sad, eased their anger when they lost their tempers, and took them to task when they did something foolish. He kept the clan strong, yes, but he also protected the Burnished. There were many gods who wanted to torment the mortals. They took great joy in torturing them with their tricks, but Helara always stepped in and said enough when it got too bad.”
Quigley paused and pulled the covers closer around Fire as a light wind blew through.
“One day, Helara was disguised and walking among the Burnished. He watched them argue with each other and fight. He saw their pettiness and cruelty and grew sad. They acted just like the gods that tormented them.”
“What did he do?” Fire asked, frowning. He would have sent Fluffle to deal with them if he was Helara.
“He stepped in to protect a Burnished that was being beaten.” Quigley was quiet for a moment. “The other Burnished turned on him. They tore at his body and tried to kill him.”
“No,” Fire whispered, eyes widening. “Not Helara.”
Quigley nodded. “The gods were enraged and came to the mortals. They killed many and scorched the entire planet.”
“What about Helara?” Fire smoothed a hand across Quigley’s chest, enjoying the steady beat of his heart.
“Helara tried to stop them. He gave each Burnished an inner flame so they could protect themselves. The gods didn’t understand why he would do that. They turned their anger on him, and their attack was far worse than the mortals’ had been.”
