by Mike Shade
"Can you do anything other than the mirror thing?" He wasn't sure what good the mirrors were going to do them.
"Nothing big. I can make stun dust. I can hear when danger's coming. I can get anything I left in the secret room that'll fit through."
"Stun dust?" That sounded like it had potential.
"Uh-huh. Wanna see?" Quinn started digging in one pocket.
He stopped and watched. "You aren't going to 'stun' me, are you?"
"Well, I wouldn't look right at it, if I were you." Quinn chuckled, blew a cloud of dust away from them, the air filling with a soft chime, a huge amount of fascinating sparkles. Fascinating. "Bram! Don't look right at it!"
He blinked slowly, turning his attention to Quinn's face. "What does it do?" he asked, feeling dull, stupid and slow-moving.
"Well, sort of what it's doing to you. Makes you stunned for a couple of minutes -- not long. If it surrounds you, it lasts longer."
He blinked some more, trying to shake it off. "That could be handy. If they get close."
"Uh-huh. You can get away. It doesn't affect me." Quinn took his hand, the tingles driving the lost feeling away completely.
He kept hold of Quinn's hand and got them moving again. "It seems to be a last ditch effort though -- I'd like to keep them from getting that close. You have no... magical weapons?"
Quinn went pale, head shaking. "No. No. Not that I would ever use. Ever. No."
"Not even to save your own life?" Quinn obviously had something up his sleeve.
"No.” Quinn slowed, shaking his head again and again. “No. I would have let you kill me."
He stopped a moment. "So there's something you can do, but you won't? Not even to save your life?" That made no sense to him.
Quinn nodded. "Aren't there things you can do, but you shouldn't, so you don't? No matter what?"
"No." He didn't even need to think about it. If it came down to his or Quinn's life over someone else’s, he would do anything -- anything.
"So what is it?" he asked. Because anything included talking Quinn into saving his own life if need be.
Quinn shook his head. "It makes me ashamed to tell about it."
"Quinn, I was the Emperor's best enforcer. Surely nothing you can do, but never have, could be worse than everything I've actually done."
He helped Quinn over a steep patch of rocks and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The sun was shining strongly and they'd lost the shade when the trees had petered out.
"I...I can make you go into the mirror and keep you there. Break the mirror. Either one. Make your heart go in the mirror."
"So I'd still be alive, but trapped?" That sounded like a pretty powerful weapon, but no worse than what he'd seen done. "I'm not sure why you're ashamed of it."
"Can you imagine? Trapping someone forever? Keeping their spirit forever? What if I took the mirror and just put it away, forever whole. Never being real? Never having a body? Never having a self?" Quinn looked a little green around the edges.
"But wouldn't they die when the body died?" Bram still wasn't feeling anywhere near the horror Quinn was. In fact he was pretty sure if the Emperor caught wind of something like that, he'd want to use it. And that upset Bram, the idea of Quinn being used as a tool, forced to do things he didn't want to, hated to, for the Emperor.
"No. No, not until the mirror cracked."
"Are you sure you couldn't do it? If they come for us and I fail in keeping them from you? You won't protect yourself?" He'd feel a lot better knowing he wasn't Quinn's last hope, that even if he fell, Quinn would go on.
"I would use the mirror and run, Bram, or hide inside the mirror. Then they could hurt my body and I wouldn't feel it. As long as the mirror didn’t break, I’d be fine." Quinn’s pallor hadn’t faded, the look in those eyes was bleak.
Bram shuddered, a soft noise coming from him. "No. You mustn’t do that." He hurried, just the thought of that making him worry.
"I would trust you, Bram, to hold my mirror, my spirit. You would keep it safe."
"It won't come to that, Quinn. I won't let it."
He tugged Quinn along, feet picking out the best path, speeding them over rocks and small shrubs, urging Quinn to move faster. Quinn panted, stumbling along, fingers clenched with his.
"How far away can you sense danger?" he asked, remembering they hadn't had a lot of time at Quinn's apartment.
"It doesn't work all the time." Those eyes met his. "It didn't work with you."
"Am I the only exception?" He had a feeling a lot of things were exceptions when it came to him and Quinn.
Quinn nodded. "I always knew before. I always did."
"Then lets trust that it'll continue to work with everyone but me."
He grinned and tugged Quinn along, relaxing a little. "I've always worked until I met you."
"Did you like working?"
Bram nodded. "I was good at it. I guess I'll have to find something new to do when we get to where we're going."
Quinn nodded, eyes on the ground. "You probably killed some of my teachers, my friends."
He squeezed Quinn's hand. "Yeah." There was very little probably about it. He'd single handedly taken out the group Quinn had been a part of.
Quinn didn't say anything else about it, just kept walking, eyes down.
He sighed. He wanted to console Quinn, but he wasn't sure how. He'd just been doing his job. And the mages had been convicted of treason, after all. Of course so had Quinn, and here he was, doing his level best to keep Quinn alive.
"I'm sorry," he finally said, because he was sorry. He was sorry their deaths were hurting Quinn.
"I am, too. I wish you hadn't been ordered to."
"I would never have met you if I hadn't been," he pointed out. Their paths never would have crossed. It never would have occurred to him to reach out and touch this little mage, to learn what they could share together.
They continued walking in silence, only the sounds of their feet on rock and their breath panting from them to disturb the soft sounds of nature.
Quinn looked up at him. "Kiss me? Just a little one?"
He stopped and looked down at Quinn, hand sliding on one cheek. "Is that possible?" he asked. Not waiting for an answer, he licked at Quinn's lips.
Quinn relaxed, lips parting, that odd energy passing between them again. And there was his answer, as his tongue pushed into Quinn's mouth and he knew he wouldn't stop until they'd found satisfaction again.
Quinn's whimper was addictive. Hot. Needy. Perfect.
He fucked Quinn's mouth with his tongue, his hand pushing into Quinn's pants to pull out the hard prick. Quinn's eyes flew open, hips pushing into his touch. He worked his own pants off with his other hand and then put them together, squeezing their cocks. The sensations sparked through him, strong and hot, like nothing else.
Quinn dropped down, tongue sliding along his tunic, tugging at the fabric until it hit his cock. Hot. Hot. So hungry. He groaned, hands sliding into Quinn's hair.
The groans and wet sounds that rose to his ears made him ache, made his balls draw up tight. The sensation of Quinn's mouth around his cock was huge, and his hips started to move, sliding his prick along Quinn's tongue.
Quinn's hand was working his own cock, tugging the silver-curled sacs. Pretty, Quinn was pretty.
Bram’s hips started to snap. His lover -- for that's what Quinn was, wasn't he? Lover, partner, magician, mate? -- took all he gave and demanded more. Hands tightening on Quinn's head, he moved faster, giving it all to Quinn.
Quinn's throat closed around him, squeezing and clenching much like the tiny ring of muscle had held his wrist. He cried out, pleasure flooding from him, pouring down Quinn's throat. Quinn drank him down, tongue cleaning his cock.
His hand curled around Quinn's cheek. "Need you so much," he whispered, his own eyes widening with shock at the words.
Quinn nodded, kissed his belly softly. "Yes, Bram. Yes."
He nodded and then cleared his throat. "Come on. We
have to get going."
Quinn nodded, stood, and tucked them both away with shaking fingers.
He grabbed Quinn's face and took another kiss, hard and deep, and then grabbed hold of Quinn's hand and headed back up the mountain.
Quinn stayed with him, step for step, holding on tight.
Chapter Five
Days.
They walked for days.
And days.
Quinn hated walking.
And sun.
And mountains.
And rocks.
And pokey grasses.
And walking.
Walking might be at the top of his list, though.
Bram could walk and walk and walk.
Well, Quinn guessed he could, too, or did, but he didn't like it.
Not even a lit...
He stopped, eyes wide, panic flooding him. "Bram! Bram, something's coming. Something close. We have to go!"
"Go? Where exactly?" Bram looked around, nodded and pointed toward an outcropping of rocks. "There. We'll defend from there."
"Defend? How?" He followed, heart pounding furiously. "What should I do?"
"How's your magic doing?" Bram asked, hustling him over to the rocks and pulling him down behind the big body.
"Good. Good. You want something from the room?" He could reach in, no problem.
"Yeah, weapons." Bram didn't sound like was joking.
"Okay. I'll see if I can find what you left." Bram hadn't seen him take the pistols, hide them away, but it had been days and days.
"Can you tell how many there are?" Bram asked. "How far away?"
"No. Not as many as before, not as close, but... they have magic and rage."
They hated.
"Magic? They're using magic now? Damn it."
Bram frowned and shook his head. "We're too out in the open. Come on, we're going to try to make it up to the cave -- can you see it? Up ahead?"
Quinn nodded. "Remember, don't look. Don't look at the magic. Whatever it is. Don't look at it."
"I was kind of hoping they'd have mirrors like you and we could just break them." Bram checked the way they'd come again and then nodded. "Okay now. Run!"
They ran hard and Quinn started whispering, gathering enough energy to open the mirror, to fight for Bram if he needed to. They made it to the cave, Bram pushing him in just as an explosion sent rocks falling next to them.
Bram's body covered his.
"Are you okay?" He blinked, pushed Bram off. "Off. The mirrors. Off."
Bram rolled off him and stayed crouched, moving toward the front of the cave, letting his pack fall off his back. "I see three. Two Guardsmen and a little guy like you."
"Don't look at him." One of the mirrors was broken and he crushed it, whispering faster, louder.
"Do you know who he is? Do you know how to fight him? Where're those weapons you were going to find me?"
"I'm getting them!" Quinn glanced up, then stopped, cried out, meeting eyes as familiar as his own. "Winnow. They took him from the school years ago. We shared a room."
"So you do know him. How do we take him out?" Bram was rummaging in the pack, pulling out a sling and grabbing some stones from the ground.
"He was my friend." Quinn couldn't think, couldn't understand. He just pulled a mirror out and put it on the ground.
"And now he's going to kill you, Quinn. Trust me on this, they didn't bring him along because they thought he might save you."
Bram growled and sent the first rock off, the pistol in one of the Guard's hands dropping as the rock slammed against the man's wrist.
He opened the mirror, hands pushing in, stretching for the pistols he could just see. "Why would he kill me?"
Why would anyone kill him?
"Because he's been told to." Bram spared the time to give him a look. "You do remember how we met, don't you?"
"Yes. Yes. I remember. I just. I remember." He bent his head, crying out as his shoulders scraped the edges of the mirror. He grabbed the pistol, pulling it out. "Here's one."
"Good." Bram grabbed the pistol and took aim. "And be careful -- don't hurt yourself."
"Yeah. I'll get the other one, there's two."
He pushed again, jamming himself in.
Bram shot the pistol and ducked back in next to him. "They've slowed their approach and are guarding the mage. Do you know how to neutralize him, Quinn? "
"Destabilize him. He works on the earth. If he's not on solid ground, he can't do anything."
"I don't suppose you can magic an earthquake up here."
"Don't be silly."
He reached for the pistol, fingers stretching.
Bram snorted and took another shot. "Yes! One Guard down. I need that other pistol, Quinn. Or the shot bag."
He rolled his eyes, snagged something and pulled it through. Bingo. "Here."
Bram grabbed it and took aim, firing at the second Guard. "Damnit, I only winged him. How exactly do you expect me to interrupt the mage's connection to the earth, Quinn? I only have one more bullet unless you come up with the shot. I can kill the mage, wound him, or finish off the Guard."
He shuddered, pushing for the shot. "The..." Lord and Lady, what was he doing? "I can go out there, use my dust, let you run. Buy you time."
Bram snorted. "I'm here to protect you, Quinn, not the other way around. Will your dust work on the magician?"
"No. No. He." He swallowed hard, pushing harder, fingers searching. "He can hurt us."
"I'm taking him out then, Quinn."
Bram squinted and took his shot. "Yes! We just might get out of this."
Tears started falling, Quinn beginning to panic as he couldn't find the...There! "I found it!"
He threw Bram the bag then stood, ran to the mouth of the cave, stun dust in his hand.
"Get down, Quinn!"
Bram's shout came just as something exploded in his shoulder, knocking him to the ground, taking away his breath.
Another shot sounded, and maybe another, everything so distant suddenly, like he'd gone into one of his mirrors, only he hadn't, had he?
"Quinn! Quinn! Talk to me!" The hurt in his shoulder suddenly got sharp.
"Bram. I need to throw the dust."
Bram shook his head. "No, Quinn. They're gone now. We're safe until the next batch show up."
Bram's hand shifted on his shoulder and he frowned. "This is going to need stitching. I might even need to dig out the bullet. I have supplies in my pack. Can you apply pressure to the wound while I get it?"
"Stitching?"
Digging?
No.
There would be no digging.
His hand was taken and put on his shoulder. "Press. Like this. Have you got it?" Bram's voice was loud and insistent, almost angry. "Stay with me, Quinn."
"I have it. My shoulder. Holding. Right." He sat up as Bram moved away, heart and shoulder pounding in time.
"That's good," Bram said, grabbing his pack and bringing it over. "Keep it elevated."
Bram checked back over the rock cover, eyes narrowed. "I should go make sure they're really dead and not just down. We don't need one of them creeping up here while I'm working on you and taking us out."
"Be careful. Come back." Quinn needed Bram.
"I will." Bram gave him a hard kiss and then grabbed the gun and crept off.
Quinn's mind just reeled. He told Bram to kill another magician. He helped Bram find a gun. He was bleeding.
It.
It couldn't be real.
There was another shot, unbelievably loud in the silence.
He gasped, then stood, stumbling down the rocks, needing to know Bram was okay.
"Quinn! Get back in the cave!" Bram was coming back up the hill, glaring at him. "What is wrong with you? You're injured!"
"I heard a shot. I. You. I was. You were out there." He loved Bram. Of course he’d come.
"And if it has been someone shooting at me you'd have been killed." Bram grabbed him around the waist and carried him b
ack up the way he'd come. "Don't you pass out on me."
"Someone shot me and I didn't die."
Bram looked down at him and chuckled. "You're right at that."
