Branded

by Ana J. Phoenix

  Snakes frowned at him. “Can you fly?”

  “What’s with you people and your obsession with flying?”

  “Hello?” she retorted. “Has it slipped your tiny mind that there’s evil magic creatures chasing us?”

  “That’s not my fault.”

  “No.” She put her hands on her hips. “But it will be when they get us because you refused to spread your wings.”

  Asher stared at her open-mouthed. “Fine then,” he said eventually. “It’s my fault. Whatever. You know what? I don’t even care.”

  “Of course you don’t.”

  “Let’s just get going,” Blind Guy cut in before Asher could say any more. “Standing around and arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

  Chapter 3 - Off the Cliff

  They never made it out of the forest before setting up camp for that night. Asher studied his nails as Snakes and Stoner tried their luck fishing at a small lake.

  “C’mon, we’ll make ourselves useful,” Blind Guy said. It took Asher a second to realize Blind Guy was talking to him. He glanced up.

  “If you just want to kill time I can think of something to do.” At least, since Blind Guy was blind, Asher didn’t even have to work at a suggestive smile.

  “We’ll collect firewood.” Blind Guy acted as if Asher never said anything.

  Asher leaned back against a tree, inspecting a crack in his clear nail polish. “You’re not the boss of me.”

  “If I were I’d fire you.”

  “You can fire me anytime.”

  Blind Guy was quiet for a moment. “If you help, I’ll let you light the campfire,” he said then.

  Asher looked up at that. Now they were talking. Asher hadn’t been able to ignite anything all day, what with Blind Guy and his trees-are-our-friends attitude. Combined with the nicotine withdrawal, it was making him antsy.

  “Alright,” he said. “Let’s go.” The faster they got the wood, the sooner he’d get his fire. He stalked off into the trees and a colorful bird fluttered away overhead. Then he heard Blind Guy fall into step behind him.

  “Why isn’t the little bitch helping?”Asher asked.

  “She’s scouting the area.”

  Hah! Blind Guy had forgotten to frown at Asher’s language. Asher snipped a bug off a fallen branch on the ground and picked it up. “You’re blind, how will you help?”

  “Don’t you worry about that.” Blind Guy had another stupid leaf stuck to his head. Asher wondered if he’d put it there intentionally just to mess with him.

  “I swear if you don’t take out that leaf…”

  “What then?” Blind Guy had the gall to grin, but he reached into his hair and took the leaf between his fingers.

  “Huh, I didn’t think you’d do it.” Asher turned away from him and walked on. There had to be more firewood to be found. He stopped when Blind Guy closed up to him. Whirling around, he caught Blind Guy trying to stick that leaf into Asher’s hair.

  “What the hell, man!” He slapped Blind Guy’s hand away. “Do not touch me and do not mess with my hair.”

  “Do not touch me?” Blind Guy raised his eyebrows at him. “You were suggesting I sleep with you just minutes ago.”

  “That’s different.”

  “How?”

  “Why?” Asher asked back. “Are you interested in what it’s like to fuck me?”

  “I don’t think you have anything to offer I haven’t had before.”

  So Blind Guy was gay after all.

  Blind Guy sidestepped Asher and went deeper into the forest. Asher hurried to keep pace. “Do you top or bottom? I bet you top. I bet you’re bossy. I don’t mind that. I’m game for mostly anything.”

  Blind Guy stopped walking and Asher passed him by; he’d spotted another fallen branch.

  “Anything? Why are you even telling me that? I already told you I—”

  “Cuddling is off the table,” Asher said, glancing back at the fire elf as he picked up the firewood.

  “Why does that not surprise me?” Blind Guy shook his head and something like a look of pity crossed his features. It was hard to tell with the blindfold over his eyes, but Asher would recognize that sentiment anywhere.

  Asher’s jaw set. That was it. He would get that guy to come off his high horse and do him. Not now though, now he had a fire to light. He picked up another piece of wood, then thrust all of it into Blind Guy’s arms. “Make yourself useful.”

  Just that moment the little bitch fluttered up to Blind Guy’s side. She flew so fast the air gleamed where she cut through it.

  “What’s up with her?”

  Blind Guy didn’t reply right away, listening to whatever the little bitch had to say. His brows furrowed and he dropped the firewood. “Quick!” he said to Asher. “We have to get back to the others.”

  “What—” Asher stopped when a rumbling noise drowned out his voice. Birds screeched and fled their nests. Twigs, no, whole branches snapped in the distance.

  “We have to run. Give me your arm.”

  “What you can’t run by yourself?”

  “Takes too much focus. Now c’mon.”

  Asher groaned, stretching his arm out to Blind Guy. The earth vibrated beneath Asher’s feet as they ran back to the lake and he half expected some sort of dinosaur to come stomping through the trees any minute.

  A howling sounded through the woods that that made Asher bite his teeth together. Shit, what was that? He skidded to a halt as they reached the lake and the monster came into view. A giant moose stood between them and the others, glowing in fluorescent shades of green. The light was so intense that Asher could not make out any actual features except for the enormous antlers on his forehead. Lethal. That's what they looked like. Asher's breath caught in his throat. His heart pounded so loud in his chest, it had to give them away.

  An angry howl ripped from the creature's snout, and it stomped its hooves on the ground. It aimed at Stoner, who seemed just as frozen as Asher.

  “Jonas!” Snakes shouted as Stoner finally ducked away from the attack and rolled under the monster's belly. He threw his hands up in the air. Earth rose up at his command, then drilled into the monsters skin. The beast seemed utterly unimpressed.

  Stoner cursed and ran back to Snakes’s side. A wall of flames erected itself between the pair and the monster. The giant freak of nature howled and turned around to Asher and Blind Guy. Another wall joined the first, caging it in. A look of concentration was etched deeply into Blind Guy’s features. Using this much fire had to be draining his magic quickly.

  “Run!" he shouted over the noise to the others. “We’ll meet up in Long Harbour.”

  “Be careful,” Snakes shouted back.

  A green light flashed through the air, expanding from the monster’s glow. When it vanished, Blind Guy’s flames were gone, too. Well, Blind Guy wasn’t the only one who could produce flames. Asher called on his own powers.

  Nothing happened. The stream of energy was there, inside of him, but he couldn’t tap into it. Something blocked him.

  Blind Guy cursed beside him. “I can’t use my magic anymore.”

  “Why the hell not?” Asher’s eyes fixed on the monster as it closed in on Snakes. Her living hair hissed viciously at the glowing giant.

  “Someone do something!” she shouted, scrambling away from the monster’s snout. It hit her with his hoof and she shrieked as she went sprawling backward to the ground.

  “Maya!” Stoner rushed toward her.

  “You can't transform, can you?” Blind Guy asked.

  “No,” Asher said. Just then a scream rang through his ears and his eyes darted back to the scene. “Oh, that's bad…” The ugly thing had attacked Stoner with his antlers and left a bloody gash in his chest. Asher hadn’t thought anything could pierce through that stone skin of his. Snakes grabbed the kid and dragged him out of reach of the monster's follow up attack.

  “Dios, it's gonna kill them…” Blind Guy said. He might be right, too. And then they
would be next if they just kept standing there. Asher was going to tell him as much, when Blind Guy did something unexpected. He took a recorder out of his leather bag and blew into it. Asher clamped his hands over his ears at the shrill sound. It got the monster's attention, too. The beast turned around to rear its ugly head at them.

  “What the hell—”

  “You like music, monster?” Blind Guy shouted and threw the recorder at the moose as though he wanted to piss it off.

  “Oh, no, you're not gonna—” play decoy, Asher wanted to say, but stopped himself when the monster roared at them.

  “Shit!” Asher shouted. “Don’t just stand there!” he grabbed Blind Guy’s arm and ran. The ground shook as the beast set into motion behind them. “Fuck, we can't outrun this thing!”

  “We can try!”

  Adrenaline rushed through Asher’s system. Pushed him on. Faster, faster. He pulled on Blind Guy’s arm, dragging him along. “Run faster!” The ugly thing chopped down trees behind them.

  The forest cleared in front of them and opened up to a large gap in the ground ahead of them. Asher's eyes grew wide. They were headed straight for a cliff. Shock made him stop and stumble, falling down face-first into the grass just inches from the abyss.

  “What—” Blind Guy started asking.

  “Cliff!” Asher vaguely realized that he'd taken Blind Guy to the ground along with him. “Too many fucking cliffs.”

  Blind Guy edged towards the abyss and appeared to be looking down. Nausea overtook Asher just watching him.

  “Okay, I know you're scared of heights, but—”

  “But what?” Asher snapped, voice bordering on hysteric. There was a freaking monster stomping closer every second. He didn't dare look around to see just how close.

  “There's a river down there. We'll jump.”

  “No fucking way.” But Asher’s words were drowned out by a deafening roar as the monster caught up with them. "What do you want?" Asher shouted, facing it. He yelped when Blind Guy pulled him to his feet from behind.

  “C'mon now, you can jump or you can be lunch.” He sounded urgent. The situation was urgent. Yet, Asher couldn't move, feeling more like throwing up. The monster raised its glowing paw, opened its ugly snout, and—what it did next, Asher didn’t see. Blind Guy had turned him around.

  “Sorry.” Blind Guy pushed. Asher’s mouth opened in a silent scream as he went over the cliff. Damnit! This was exactly why it was best not to let people touch you. He was too pretty to die!

  A thousand thoughts like this raced through his head as the water came closer, but he could not get hold of a single one. He wanted to close his eyes, but couldn't. He could only stare and stare and — splash! Cool water engulfed him, shocked his brain into awareness.

  He opened his eyes. He had to get to the surface. Glimpsing daylight, he swam toward it. When he broke through he drew forest air into his lungs in large gulps. Snorting water out of his nose, he looked up. The edge of the cliff didn't seem that far away. That can’t be right. He stroked some wet hair out of his face and took hold of a branch that stuck out over the river. Hanging on to it, he made his way to the waterside.

  Blind Guy was lying on the ground a few feet off, even more drenched than the first time Asher had seen him. Asher flopped down next to him and took a minute just to breathe and calm himself down, staring up at the cliff.

  “Do that again and I'll kill you,” he said after a moment.

  Blind Guy shook his head. “You're welcome.”

  Asher scoffed. Silence settled between them. Asher closed his eyes, but he wasn't going to sleep. He started feeling the impacts of the fall in aching body parts and his mind still reeled.

  “I think I smelled one of those lizards,” Blind Guy said after a few minutes. Asher glanced over at him. What was he? A dog?

  “Do you think the others will be okay?” Blind Guy asked.

  “Dunno.”

  “How are we gonna get back up there?”

  “The only place I want to go is home,” Asher said. And he’d never thought he’d say that. Ever.

  Chapter 4 - Sweet Dreams

  José kept himself busy playing with the campfire as his shift neared the end. For the past few days, they’d slept in turns. José took first watch. He could tell roughly how much time passed by how far the fire burned down. They’d set up camp on another clearing. Walking over the plains would have been faster, but the forest offered more protection.

  The lavalight had gone off, as every night, and Asher was mumbling something in his sleep. He often did. It suited him too. The pyro had no filter between his brain and his mouth when he was awake, so why would there be one when he was asleep?

  Tonight however, Asher wasn’t simply talking in his sleep. He was moaning. Not loudly, though. José had his enhanced elf-senses to thank for hearing it so clearly.

  José scoffed. Asher having interesting dreams should not surprise him. Best to just let him have his fun, and maybe take a few steps away from the camp and whistle over the noise or something.

  “José.”

  Qué? José froze. Had Asher just moaned his name? Hell, he was surprised Asher even knew his name. He sure didn’t use it when awake, no matter how often José reminded him.

  Asher moaned again, and José grimaced. Asher having wet dreams about him was the last thing he needed on his mind. With anyone else, he would have thought they were just putting on a show to annoy him. But Asher seemed to appreciate the direct approach more than dropping subtle, or not so subtle, hints.

  José picked a thin branch out of the fire and extinguished it. Focusing on the varying heat levels in the area, he could make out exactly where the pyro was lying. Asher gave off a lot of heat. José had to poke him twice to wake him up.

  “Blind Guy?” Asher muttered, sleep still lacing his voice. Aaand we’re back to nicknames. “Funny, I just dreamed of you.”

  José threw the stick aside. Anyone else would have had the sense to deny that dream. Not Asher, though. He should have known. “I’m not interested,” he said.

  “You were enjoying yourself in my dream.”

  “You know what I’d enjoy? If you started calling me by my name.”

  “I might if you fuck me.”

  “Yeah, no deal.” Being called by his name wasn’t that important. He was sure sleeping with Asher wouldn’t be a hardship. The pyro would probably turn the noise all the way up, and José liked that in a partner. Easier to hear someone’s reactions when he couldn’t see them. But he didn’t do one night stands. Especially not with obnoxious brats.

  “C’mon, what’s the problem?” Asher sounded serious, like he really wanted to know.

  “Honestly, Asher, you act like it’s the first time someone’s turned you down.”

  “That’s cause it is.”

  It was? José had to gather his wits before he could respond to that. “You’ve never been turned down?” On second thought, maybe that was why he was so stubborn. José realized saying no made him more attractive.

  “You’re only surprised because you can’t see me.”

  “I’ve touched you,” José said. “I know you have a decent body, but that’s not cutting it for me.” Decent was putting it mildly. Asher had been working out back in the real world, that much was certain. And José had never come across a guy with skin like Asher’s. If it were purely physical, he’d enjoy running his hands all over it. But José had more dignity than that.

  “When did you touch me? Did you touch me when I was sleeping, you—”

  “No,” José cut in before Asher could get angry. “You think I would do that? C’mon. I carried you across that bridge, remember?”

  “Right…” Asher mumbled. He stood up and took the stick José had woken him with. “Right. Okay. I don’t like that. Being touched.”

  “I still don’t see how that works with your sex obsession.” And I’m sure I could make you like it. Where had that thought come from? This wasn’t a challenge for God’s sake.<
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  “I’m not obsessed.” Asher poked around in the fire. “There’s just not much else to do for fun around here. You won’t let me burn anything. You’re worse than my mom.” He sat back down. “So why won’t you fuck me? I’ve had straight guys fuck me. They didn’t care that I wasn’t nice.”

  And how many guys had Asher slept with, exactly? The kid was hardly twenty, if José remembered correctly. Roughly four years younger than him.

  “Sex isn’t just about fun for me.” José wasn’t sure how to put it in terms that Asher would understand. “When I sleep with someone, it’s because I like them.”

  Asher snorted. “Yeah, well, we can forget about that.”

  José pressed his lips together, sitting cross-legged. He hadn’t wanted to insult Asher. “I’m sure you have a likable side that you’re just not showing me,” he offered before his brain could stop him. There was something about how dejected Asher sounded that made José want to cheer him up.

  “Can’t you just like my body?”

  “How would that help when I can’t touch it?”

  Asher seemed to think about that. Then he approached José and all but crawled into his lap, stopping just before making actual contact. “I could make an exception for you.” Asher whispered the words into his ear, as if he were just about to kiss him there. José felt his breath on his skin, and the heat he radiated.

  Yeah, Asher definitely liked the direct approach. And José couldn’t say that he had zero interest in what Asher was offering, but he still backed away. At this point, his interest in Asher was only an interest in an available (and fit) warm body, and that wasn’t enough.

  “I’d let you do whatever you want,” Asher offered.

  “Cuddling?” José asked, because he knew it would stump his companion.