Author's Note: So for the fairy tale cliché, I went digging for Egyptian tales and found one that fit Atem pretty well, even better that has the end missing. So, I decided to mess around with it. Also, some of the concepts that I'm using in this fic come from the television series Gargoyles. I'm still watching my way through it, but I'm borrowing ideas from it just for this fic because the ideas wouldn't leave me alone. As always, I hope you enjoy.

Warnings: blood, violence.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, I just mess around with the characters

The Doomed Prince

"Behold, I am thy doom, following after thee..."

The door to the library creaked open, the fireplace casting a human silhouette on the wall. The creature at the door hesitated for a moment, digging its talons into the carpet for a moment before walking into the room, its crimson eyes locked on the young man that was slumped over the table in the middle of the room. The creature barely glanced around at the other books, only taking care to make sure that its tail didn't knock over any of the stacks of books that were on the floor, making a beeline for the human. It stopped just behind the human, tensing as the young man muttered something in his sleep before relaxing again, a smile crossing the creature's face before it leaned over to rest a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Aibou. Aibou, wake up."

"Mmph. Don't wanna." The creature chuckled at the irate tone of voice that the human used, crouching so that he could nuzzle the human's neck, watching the young man shiver.

"Aibou," he almost sang the nickname, "please wake up."

"Mm?" The human woke up this time, sitting up and stretching his back. The creature took a step back, watching as the human turned to look at him. "What? Oh, I must have fallen asleep again." He twisted in his chair, smiling as he saw the creature waiting there. "Atemu."

"Hello, aibou."

Yugi got out of his chair and walked over to the creature, wrapping his arms around Atemu, Atemu returning his favor. There was a slight rustle as Atemu furled his wings for a moment before wrapping them around Yugi as well, nuzzling the young man's neck. Yugi sighed, relaxing into the creature. "How is it going?"

At the reminder of the war they were fighting, Atemu winced, glancing toward the windows, watching the play of colors through the glass as the sun set. "My father was injured today."

"Oh, Atemu…"

"He'll live." Atemu smiled as Yugi relaxed for a moment before tensing.

"But, who's going to lead the rest of your kind?" Atemu remained silent, that enough of an answer for Yugi. He gasped and held Atem closer to him. "You can't."

"I have to."

"But the prophecy…" Yugi turned to reach for the piece of paper, pushing Atemu's wings out of the way. He caught a glimpse at what was written on it, quickly reading over the familiar words. 'And he shall perish by snake, crocodile or dog.'

Atemu lunged forward, catching Yugi's hand and turning him back around. "It doesn't matter."

"It does to me!" Yugi glared at him. "And it should to you, Atemu! This is your life we're talking about."

"But I have to do my duty to my people, Yugi." Atemu bristled, baring his fangs for a fraction of a second before remembering himself, tucking his wings against his back and taking a step back. The only outward sign of his agitation then became the twitching at the very tip of his tail. "I am their prince, they expect nothing else."

"What about the things you promised me, Atemu?"

He looked up at Yugi, staring at the young man. At his sides, his hands twitched, the talons on the ends clacking as they knocked together. Atemu looked away in the next moment, letting his chin fall to rest against his chest. "Aibou, I would give anything to be able to stay with you. You know that. Please, don't make me have to choose like this, because you will know what will win."

Yugi stared at him before nodding slowly, wrapping his arms around himself before taking a step back. Atemu watched Yugi move before pulling his wings closer to him, hating what this was doing to them. Atemu didn't blame Yugi from worrying, even his father's own council was frantic now. With their leader forced to stay with the humans at the castle, he was the only one to lead them out into battle again, but that would be putting him into danger, something that all of them had been avoiding since he was born.

Hesitantly he reached out for Yugi, watching as the human considering his outstretched hand before taking it and walking closer. Atemu smiled softly at Yugi, pulling him into a hug again and wrapping his wings around the human. "I'm sorry, Yugi. I wish this didn't have to happen."

"Me too." Yugi gave a wry laugh. "If only they had listened to us instead of the churchmen who proclaimed you monsters. Now the whole country is trying to murder us for keeping you safe."

"We are repaying you for that kindness."

"With your lives."

Atemu growled at the reminder, glancing up at the coat of arms that hung over the fireplace, watching the light move over the two stags carved in stone. "They make it this way, aibou. They wish for us to be killed or under their control. And I have no wish to be turned to stone during the day."

"If…" Yugi paused for a moment, looking up at him. "If there was a way for you to enchant yourself…would that work? If all of you turned yourself to stone only for the day, and we show the churchmen that we followed them, we would be fine."

"You mean trick them?" Atemu smiled before leaning over to kiss Yugi's forehead. "Aibou, that is a brilliant plan, but it would take more than one night. We would also have to pretend to back off our attacks, make them believe that we were giving up. And some of my people wouldn't like it."

"We wouldn't control you!"

"I know that, but some of us still don't trust you; especially after Bakura." Yugi nodded sadly, Atemu tracing his talons up the human's spine, feeling Yugi shiver. He didn't want Yugi dwelling on the past too much. "I'll talk to the council and my father, aibou. We'll get through this and get those men away from here. Then we'll be safe."

Yugi stared at him for a moment before nodding, a smile crossing his face. "Alright."

"Now," Atemu smirked, lowering his head to kiss Yugi's neck, "I have a while before I'm expected, aibou. I fear I've been neglecting you."

Yugi shivered at that, giving Atemu a smile, the creature letting the human go and resettling his wings on his back again. Yugi smiled at that and jogged off, shooting Atemu a coy look over his shoulder. The creature chuckled, following Yugi out of the library.

"My prince?" Atemu opened his eyes, lifting his head so he could see over Yugi's shoulder. He could make out someone standing in the doorway, Atemu perking up at the scent of his cousin. He sighed, looking down at his lover before pushing off of the bed, pulling the blanket over Yugi. He paused as the human whimpered, resting his hand on Yugi's shoulder and leaning over him.

"Easy, aibou, I'll be back."

"'Temu." He smiled at the soft sigh that the human gave before he took a step back, wrapping his wings around him as he walked to get his clothes, noticing that Seto had turned away. Atemu shook his head and tied the white linen around his hips, reaching for the gold that he had stripped off.

"Don't act so embarrassed, Seto." That got a grumble from his cousin, Atemu rolling his eyes and sliding the gold armbands back into place, looking back over his shoulder at his lover. "Go on, Seto, I'll meet you there."

"Now, Atemu, not in another hour." He glared at Seto for the tone of voice, his cousin already walking away. Atemu growled before turning around and walking back to the beside, crouching to run his talons through Yugi's hair, sighing and leaning forward to rest his forehead against his lover's.

"May the gods watch over you in your sleep, love. I'll return to you as soon as this is over." He smiled before standing up straight, settling his golden collar into place before walking from the room, pausing to look back at Yugi before walking through the dimly lit stone hallways, but the shadows didn't bother him. From the depths of some of the shadows, little tendrils reached out toward their prince, Atemu ignoring them as he prowled down the corridor, his eyes watching the corridor ahead of him as he keen hearing picked up the fearful whispering of the people all around him.

The humans were worried about how the war was going, they had been holding their own for a good while, but their good luck could only last for so long. Their enemies had more troops at their disposal while they only had what was here. The other humans were afraid of his kind and most of his kind had already agreed to submit to the humans. Atemu glanced toward one of the arrow slits, staring at the darkness outside. The rest of his kind, the ones who had submitted to the humans, would be stretching their wings now, probably stiff from spending the whole day as stone and all of that just to be able to live on the land that they had always lived on.

Atemu growled at the thought of those who had betrayed them. How were they supposed to defend their homes when they spent half of their lives as stone? How were they to create the bonds with their mates if they were not allowed to use magic? They had given up all that made them like the others when they had submitted to the humans instead of being partners with them. And submitting would not ease the human's fear of them, it would just fuel it. Humans only ceased to fear a thing when they were around it for most of their lives.

He rubbed his forehead, fighting back the headache that was growing. Now was not the time to be incapacitated; he had an army to lead and a council to convince. Any sign that he was not strong enough and he would be confined here, and he would lose the trust of his kind, something that he could not afford. He was a prince by blood, and king once his father died, but that could change as soon as one of the others decided that Atemu was too weak for the job.

He pushed those thoughts away as he walked into the war room, glancing at the few humans that were still awake before his gaze landed on his own kind, watching them all bow to him as he came to stand at the head of the table, ignoring the chair that was there. "Mahad, what's the plan of attack?"

Atemu watched his old friend cast a glance up at Aknadin, Atemu eyeing his uncle carefully as Mahad began to speak. "We send the humans to attack the camps closest to the castle while we go to the main encampment. They won't expect it since they'll think we'll have to cut off the attack at dawn, which we won't. We'll knock out the two main dangers and then regroup to consider our next plan of attack."

"Do we have a back up plan?"

"Of course not!" Atemu shot a glance towards his uncle, watching Aknadin spread his wings as he puffed himself up. "We will be victorious."

"And if we are not?"

"How dare you say that?"

"No. How dare you not think of it!" Atemu snarled, leaning on the table and glaring at the council. "I will not have lives wasted just because we did not come up with another plan. It would be a poor way to treat our people and a poor way to repay these humans for hosting us."

"We already fight for them. What more is needed?"

Atemu ignored his uncle, glancing around at the rest of the council. "Have a few of us remain behind to act as support for the humans if things go wrong. Mahad, I want you to remain here in charge of that group." His friend bowed, Atemu turning his attention back to the others. "If this attack doesn't go well then we retreat as fast as we can and consider this plan. We stop going out to fight as often, we appear to be giving up-"

"Never!"

"Silence!" Atemu snarled and turned to his uncle, spreading his wings to make himself look bigger. "You will wait until I am finished to speak."

He drummed his talons against the table, glancing around at the others. He knew that he should be handling matters a bit more delicately, but he didn't have the patience to; the impending battle occupying his mind and the prophecy. He shook his head and forced himself back on topic. "We will enchant ourselves during the day, as long as it takes for these churchmen to believe that we have submitted. Then, we will be free to live as we please."

"And if they do not believe us?" Atemu glanced over at Karim, staring at the other male before sighing and lowering his head.

"Then we will leave and find another place to live."

"No! Our people have lived here before the humans were even intelligent." Aknadin stepped away from the table, Atemu watching as his uncle moved toward him. "My father and his father and his father's father have all been born here. You cannot take us away. You don't have the power."

"I have the sense, and that's more than enough. My father will agree."

"Your father will agree only to keep you alive and happy, you spoiled brat." Atemu snarled and caught the hand that was coming down to cuff him, straining against Aknadin for a moment before forcing his uncle to step backwards.

"I am the prince, you will not touch me." He paused for a moment before letting go of Aknadin's hand, turning back to the council. "What's more important to you? These stones or your lives? Personally, I believe that there will be other stones, there's only one of me."

Aknadin glared at him before bowing, sulking as he walked back to his place at the table, Atemu watching his uncle carefully before nodding to himself. That was the hard part done with. He rolled his shoulders before leaning on the table again. "Mahad, you're staying here with the humans to act as aerial cover. Seto and Aknadin you're with me, the rest of you will follow as well. Karim and Shada, I need you to gather up the elite guards to follow us. They will remain behind when we walk into their main camp."

"Prince?"

"I'm going to give them one last chance and a choice." Atemu smirked at them before dismissing them with a wave of his hand, straightening up before glancing over at Seto and Mahad, motioning for them to follow him. He waited until they were out in the corridor to talk, sure that none were listening in. "We're going to get Bakura."

Mahad snarled, Seto just scoffing. "You're brining that snake with you? I thought you had sense, cousin."

"He's related to the one who is tormenting us. Maybe he'll be useful as a bargaining chip."

"And if he isn't?"

Atemu shrugged. "We'll see."

"I still think you should kill him." Atemu shot a look back at his cousin, Seto looking ahead towards the large doors they were walking towards. He sighed and opened the doors to the great hall, wrapping his wings around himself to avoid hitting the sick and injured that were laid out on the floor. He swallowed at the sight, watching a few of his own kind moving down the rows, Atemu glancing around before stepping into the room, glancing over as he heard someone slide close to him.

"My prince." Ryou gave a half bow, restricted from the full motion by the wings that were wrapped around his middle. Atemu smiled at the quiet healer, nodding to him before looking around.

"Where is my father?"

"Down towards the end." Ryou gestured down the hall; Atemu rising onto the tips of his talons to try and catch a glimpse of his father, lowering himself back down at Ryou gave a nervous tug at the end of his wing. "He's in pain and grumpy. Please don't agitate him."

"I will do my best."

Ryou nodded. "Anything else, my prince."

"Yes, get Bakura." Atemu noticed the fear in Ryou's eyes, raising an eyebrow at the emotion. He had known that the assassin had been sticking close to Ryou, but he hadn't noticed anything happening between the two of them. Part of him was tempted to reach for Ryou's arms and check them for any scars that would have been caused by a blood bond, but he held himself in check. Now was not the time to be worrying about this, he would talk to Ryou on the subject later. "Say your good-byes now, Ryou."

The healer gave a curt nod, Atemu watching Ryou shake as he moved through the sick and injured. He jumped as Seto came into his line of vision, his cousin shaking his head. "He should have known better."

"We cannot help who we love, Seto."

His cousin gave him a long look before sighing, moving away. He was probably off to find Kisara among the injured. Atemu smiled at the thought of the female. She had been the only one left standing when they had found his father earlier in the day, fiercely defending the king. He would have to remember to reward her for her bravery, although catching Seto might have been reward enough. Atemu shook his head and headed down towards where his father was, Mahad coming up beside him to fill the spot that Seto had left open.

He watched his friend out of the corner of his eye, his tail twitching as he thought before Atemu shook his head. "Mahad, my friend, you will have to forgive me for what I am asking."

Mahad stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "You can't take her."

"Mahad-"

"Atemu she is barely an adult. Her training is not complete and we can't risk her out there."

"I understand that Mahad." Atemu flinched at the harsh tone of his voice, sighing and rubbing his forehead. "I don't intend to take her into battle. I do intend to use her as a messenger. Mana is resourceful enough for that. And I think it would be safe enough for you."

"You know you could order me to release her to your care."

"And then I would lose one of my allies, which is why I'm asking you." Atemu sighed and turned to look at Mahad. "I value your friendship, Mahad. With all of this going on, the council worrying about me and my own problems, I need a friend or two to keep sane."

"And what's the real reason you're leaving me here." Atemu hesitated for a moment, glancing over at his friend before allowing his gaze to drop to the floor. "Ah, Yugi."

"He means the world to me."

"I understand, Atemu." Mahad placed a hand on his shoulder. "And I will guard him with my life."

"Thank you." He smiled up at Mahad before turning his attention to the bed that he was approaching, hurrying his steps as he walked up to his father, smiling as he saw Akhnamkanon glaring at the wall. "Father?"

"Atemu." His father jumped a bit, his eyes widening before he calmed down. "What are you doing down here? I thought you would be up with Yugi or planning the attack with your generals."

"Father, I'm leading the attack."

"Atemu-"

"There's no other way to do it. They need someone out there to look to." Atemu gave a sad smile, sitting on the stool by his father's bedside, his eyes going to the white bandage that held Akhnamkanon's arm close to his body and the other gashes that had been sown up. "You can't, so it falls to me."

"You can't."

"Then what can I do, father?" Atemu tipped his head to the side. "When I become king, should I wait in safety while others go out and die instead of me? I'll be killed if I do that. Father, I have to do this; I can't just stay and watch as others throw themselves into danger."

"Atemu, what about the prophecy?"

"I'm ignoring it."

"Don't." Akhnamkanon turned, staring at him. "Isis was the one who told me about it. And Isis is rarely wrong. I've already lost a mate; I don't want to lose my only son. And what about Yugi?"

Atemu froze at that, dropping his gaze to the ground before shaking his head. "I have no other choice, father." He stood up. "You know it as well as I."

He turned, looking over to see Ryou waiting nervously with Bakura by the doors to the hall. He bowed to his father before walking away, ignoring his calls for Atemu to come back, staring at the doors. He couldn't be weak now, not with everyone watching. He had already bound himself to a human, a controversial thing in itself, but to a male. He would be the last of his royal line, passing the crown onto one of Seto's children or Seto himself. But he was also the royal in command now, to stand back and watch would be a death knell for him, it would be seen and cowardice. And he had to be strong to have Yugi's plan go through; not many of them would like the idea of trusting the humans completely or leaving. But, then again, most of their kind refused to see that the world had changed.

Atemu sighed, pausing by the doors and looking at Bakura, watching the assassin glare back at him. He jerked his head toward the doors, Seto appearing by his side. Mahad took the moment to grab onto Bakura's arm, not bothering to worry about his talons. Atemu saw Bakura wince as Mahad's talons dug into his arm, but he was more interested in the jerk that Ryou gave towards the human, raising an eyebrow before turning away. So Ryou was interested in this human. If Bakura was interested in Ryou, that might be something that he could use to his advantage. He glanced back at Bakura before motioning for Seto to push open the doors, stepping around his cousin to walk through the doors first.

Once out into the hallway, Atemu motioned for Mahad to go off, the male hesitating for a moment before bowing, Atemu watching him go before walking for the courtyard, Seto taking his turn guarding Bakura.

"Ah, so it's just me, the prince and the loyal dog."

"Watch it."

"Did I hit a nerve, priest?"

"Bakura, be silent and I may be inclined to save your life." Atemu looked over his shoulder at the white-haired man, watching as Bakura contemplated his words.

"You would kill me anyway for trying to kill you. So what's in it for me?"

"A pardon." Atemu smirked as Bakura's eyes widened for a second. "Something to make you acceptable towards certain others."

There was silence for a while before Bakura cursed. "You bastard."

"Just a simple observation. So, are you willing to help us?"

Bakura was silent for a moment, Atemu watching the human carefully as he looked back toward the great hall. The assassin was obviously thinking, Atemu watching as Bakura's fingers twitched in thought, almost able to hear Bakura weighing his options. He smirked when the assassin turned back to look at him, pretending to glance around at the stone walls in an attempt to act like he didn't care before shrugging. "Why not? It's not like my father will want me back after my failure."

Atemu just smiled. "We'll see. Perhaps to save face he might."

They strode into the courtyard, Atemu looking at the elite guard to check to see that they were all there, returning his uncle's glare before unfurling his wings and stretching them. He heard Seto and Bakura arguing, deciding to let them shout at each other for a while more, nodding when he saw that Mana was nervously standing nearby, walking over to her. "You're with me, Mana."

"R-really?"

"Messenger duties. Mahad won't let you do anything else." To his surprise, Mana looked relieved, the young female testing her wings. Atemu took a step back, confused by the lack of her usual bounce. Mana moved to get into her position, pausing to look back at him, hesitating before reaching up to grab onto his arm.

"Atemu, please, take care of yourself."

"Not this."

"No. It's beyond that prophecy. This is me telling you to watch your back. Things are getting tense around here."

Atemu looked up, staring up at the towers of the castle before sighing. "Maybe it would be better to leave."

"Maybe." Mana was gone then, Atemu staring up at the castle, his eyes seeking out where Yugi's room would be. It was on the other side of the castle, but he could easily imagine the small room, the few valuable scattered over the shelves and the bed nearly tucked into a corner. Yugi would still be asleep, probably curled up into a ball in the covers since he wasn't there anymore. He flinched at that thought, turning around to look at those assembled before nodding, flapping his wings hard to get him off the ground before turning to circle around the courtyard, watching as the others took to the air, one of the guard holding Bakura.

When he was sure that they were all organized, he turned towards where the encampment was, flying as fast as he could. He wanted to get there and back before something happened at the castle and he wanted to deal with the humans as quickly as he could. He hated the idea of being caught in the air while they shot arrows up at them. He had seen too many of his kind plummet to their dooms or merely fall to the ground, only to be pummeled to death by the humans. His hands clenched into fists at the thought; he had spent far too much time just watching, it was time he actually acted like a prince.

Atemu banked, keeping to the edge of the forest as he spotted the smoke from the fires ahead of him. He narrowed his eyes, trying to count the people below them, hoping that they would catch them by surprise as well as outnumbered. He needed this to go smoothly. Atemu shut his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before banking to land on the outskirts of the camp, turning to glare at Bakura. "You will walk beside me."

"But, Atemu-" He shot a glare at Aknadin, watching as his uncle took a few steps back, giving was for Bakura. The assassin looked around before shrugging at Atemu.

"My father isn't going to want me back."

"I don't care. You're a hostage, and we haven't killed you. He can't call us monsters for that."

"Well, that's one thing that won't be against you." Atemu sighed, rubbing his forehead before wrapping his wings around him, wanting to appear as small and nonthreatening as possible.

He gestured for Seto to come up by his side, missing Aknadin's angry glare, too focused on the guards that were behind him. "Stay back. If anything goes wrong, you have my full permission to attack, but wait until then." They all nodded slowly, Atemu turning to look at Mana. "Keep yourself safe, we're counting on you to get reinforcements."

The female nodded, Atemu turning around and walking into the camp. At first, there was nothing but silence. Then the humans began to come out of their tents, all of them reaching for any weapons they had, pausing when they saw Bakura walking among them. Atemu hid his smile at that, if he could keep them off guard long enough for something to get done, he might just make it out of the camp without losing anyone.

News of their arrival traveled ahead of them, Atemu walking into the light of the main fire as the leader of the group stood up, Atemu glancing over his red robes and the complex arrangement of jewels on a necklace that meant something to the humans. As Yugi explained it, it was a representation of their sky god, the same one that said that they were monsters and demons to be defeated. Atemu raised his gaze back to the man's face, realizing that there was almost no resemblance between Bakura and his father, pushing that thought away as the human chuckled. "Well, if it isn't royalty coming to see me. I would bow but…"

Atemu bristled at the insult, shooting a glance toward Seto to keep him in line. He straightened up, watching Bakura slowly try to hide himself behind Atemu. He only had a moment to see that before the man was speaking again. "So, have you come to submit yourselves to our demands to save your lives?"

"No. I have come to request that you leave us alone."

"Ah, so this one has intelligence. The other brute just attacks us." Atemu growled at the disrespect shown to his father, reining himself back. Losing his temper would do nothing for him now. "So, you've come to beg for mercy."

"No, I have come as an intelligent being to talk out an agreement or some sort of peace between us. And, as a token of our good will, I'll return your son to you."

"Oh, the bastard." Atemu saw Bakura wince at the tone of voice his father used. "He's useless anyway, a reminder of my past sins. And all sin should be destroyed."

Atemu took a step in front of Bakura and flung out his wings, growling. "Sin or not he is your son."

"I don't recognize him as such."

Atemu felt his mouth drop open at the statement, quickly pulling himself together. "Either way, you can see we have not harmed him, which is more than you can say. Your people attack their own kind daily, killing many. For their sake, I ask you to leave us in peace."

"As long as they harbor you monsters, I cannot allow it."

"I'm giving you this chance-"

"And I am turning it down. I do not bargain with monsters and demons." The man sat back, looking satisfied with himself. Atemu growled, glancing around the camp before taking a step back, not bothering to fold his wings. If the humans were smart, they would take the moment to run. He had run out of patience and this man was obviously an idiot, an idiot who shouldn't be in charge of leading others.

"You leave me no choice." Atemu screeched, the humans stumbling backwards and covering their ears at the sound. He reached back for Bakura, pushing the human back as he heard the sound of wings, the elite guard quickly surrounding the camp before moving in. He glanced around, before looking back at Bakura. "Now is the time to run."

"Yeah right, and miss this?" Bakura gave a whoop and rushed into battle, Atemu watching him confusion before following the human, throwing a soldier to the side as he made a beeline for the man who was leading them.

Atemu moved around the edge of the fire, catching a glimpse of the man in his red robes running through the fray, Atemu laughing and folding his wings back. The man would go down without a fight, he could see that already. He was nothing more than a scared bully, only sure of himself when everything was under his control. Atemu snarled, running after the man before leaping onto his back and forcing him to the ground, listening to the man scream in terror. Atemu just smiled. "I gave you the chance."

He ended it quickly, snapping the man's neck before stepping away. He kicked the body to the side, glancing around him. He could see Bakura working his way towards him, a bit disturbed by the eager gleam in the human's eye as he hacked his way through the soldier with a stolen sword. Seto was walking towards him, lashing out at any men who were getting too close; seeming board with the whole affair. Mana was probably hiding somewhere safe, as per his orders. Now, it would only take a while to clean up here, hopefully without losing too many of their own. Then there wouldn't be any reinforcements for a while, long enough for them to think up some other plan.

Atemu went to take a step forward when he heard something moving behind him. He had the time to glance back over his shoulder, his eyes widening as Aknadin plunged a knife into his shoulder, Atemu going down with a scream of pain. He shrieked as Aknadin followed him down, leaning on the knife to drive it deeper into him, his uncle hissing with glee. "You are a coward, Atemu; my son should be king after Akhnamkanon, not a human lover like you."

The knife was yanked out from his shoulder and driven through the membrane of his wing, Atemu trying to roll to tear it out only to have Aknadin pin him down. Atemu shivered as he felt his uncle's talons dig into his skin, trying to roll him off. "I will not leave my home because you are too cowardly to destroy these invaders or because you want to protect those idiot humans."

"Get off of me."

"Silence!" Atemu winced as Aknadin tore a long gash down his back, his uncle chuckling. He looked up at the sound of shouts, Seto trying to get to him but blocked as the enemy rallied, Atemu looking around fearfully before trying to reach back for the knife again. If he could escape with just a hole in his wing, it would be much easier to heal than a whole rip.

The tip of his talons just touched the hilt of the knife before Aknadin snarled, the sound his only warning before he was screaming in pain, trying to roll out of the way. He felt his uncle's claws dig into his back and then the soft flesh of his sides, Aknadin nearly shrieking with glee as he tore at Atemu. The knife was jerked out of his wing, Atemu using that moment to turn and kick Aknadin off of him.

He tried to get up, his limbs shaking as he forced himself to move forward. If he could get to safety he could fight of Aknadin himself. He was younger and stronger than his uncle.

Atemu screamed as Aknadin landed on him again, forcing him to roll over onto his back and pinning him against the ground, Atemu hissing as dirt was rubbing into his stinging wounds. The dirt became the least of his worries as Aknadin went back to work, tearing at the skin on his chest and stomach, Atemu trying to get his uncle off of him, his vision blurring as he reached the end of his endurance, losing too much blood to fight back. He tried to snarl, managing to scratch Aknadin's face before his uncle returned the favor.

He heard a roar from somewhere beside him, Atemu weakly rolling his head to the side as one of his guards leapt at Aknadin, pushing his uncle of off him, but leaving a deep cut from where Aknadin had tried to get a hold of his skin. Atemu screamed in pain before falling limp on the ground.

All around him he heard the sound of others rushing toward him, his vision blurring so he could only see shapes. He felt someone rest a hand on his shoulder, trying to blink and clear his vision. "He's alive, thank the gods. Someone find Mana! Send her off to the castle! You, take him back, we don't have time to lose. You two keep a hold of that traitor, make sure that he can't do anything else. Atemu? Stay with us. I swear I'll kill you if you die!"

Atemu felt himself being lifted off the ground, too weak to even scream at the pain that it caused him, only to lose consciousnesses minutes later.

Yugi was woken up by the sound of people rushing around in the hallway outside. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, glancing over to the other side of his bed, somehow not surprised that Atemu was not there. He threw the covers off, quickly getting dressed before rushing outside.

He found the hallway in a state of disarray, Yugi frowning and rushing down the hall, quickly finding one the captain of the guard, and grabbing his arm. He ducked the frantic swing by the man, ignoring his stuttered apology. "What happened?"

"It's gone wrong, Yugi. That's what happened." The captain of the guard threw his hands up into the air and stormed away, Yugi following him and listening as the man talked. "We had a brilliant plan of attack, enough to get us some breathing room. The camp that they had close to us here has been completely destroyed and we were going to destroy their supply line too, but it went wrong down there."

"What happened?"

"The Count was killed."

"That's good."

"No, because there are soldiers left alive to tell the tale and they'll continue to spread their lies. But half the castle is panicking because they fear what the other Lords will do. There's talk of sailing to the outer islands with those who want to go, our friends will protect us if they want to go as well and none of the others will go there, they say those islands are cursed." The captain of the guards snorted in derision. "And all of the sick and injured will go, but people are fighting against it, saying that we have to give up those creatures to the church."

"They'll die first."

"I know. But we don't have much of a choice now. Especially after…" the captain of the guard stopped for a moment, seeming to pale. "By all that is holy there was so much blood. I doubt that any creature could survive that."

Yugi's eyes widened, reaching for the captain's sleeve. "Is their king alright?"

The captain stared at Yugi for a while before nodding numbly. "Not the king, but their prince…"

"Atemu." Yugi stumbled backward, barely feeling the wall against his back as he reached up to hold his wrist, rubbing the fabric over the scar that he had there.

The captain nodded. "He led the attack against the Count, but something happened. They keep saying it was one of the council-"

Yugi didn't stay to hear the rest, pushing from the wall and sprinting down the stairs towards the great hall, it would be the only place where they would take Atemu. He carelessly pushed aside others, not bothering to apologize as he continued his headlong rush down the stairs. He nearly lost his balance once, stumbling out into the main entryway before turning to rush toward the great hall, noticing the large number of people there, ducking under arms and then wings as the barreled through the creatures who were all trying to get a glimpse of their prince.

He pushed his way out of the crowd, stumbling into the aisle that was made by the cots, looking around frantically. Atemu had to be here unless…unless he was already dead. Yugi took a tighter hold of his wrist, unwilling to believe that. He and Atemu were bound by blood and magic, he should have felt something. All the others that he had talked to about this all said that they had felt something when their bonded had died, but that had been with their own kind. Yugi swallowed nervously before walking forward, his hand still holding his wrist tightly, like it would help him sense where Atemu was.

"Yugi!" He turned as Ryou shouted his name, the creature hurrying over to him and looking around. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Not supposed to-" Yugi pulled his sleeve down and showed Ryou his scar. "I'm his bonded mate, Ryou! What did you expect me to do once I got the news?"

"You weren't supposed to get it at all Yugi." Ryou looked over at the crowd before wrapping an arm around Yugi's shoulder and steering him through the maze of cots. "Things have gone all wrong. Seto is trying to deal with them but no one can seem to think straight, so we're getting our sick and injured out before anyone has time to move against us. Some of the humans are leaving with us too."

"Then I'm going too."

"Yugi, you have a life here."

"My grandfather has been dead for eleven years, Ryou. And Atemu is my family." He glared at the creature. "You can't keep me away from him."

"I wouldn't dream of it Yugi, except…" Ryou looked around before lowering his voice. "Yugi, all of the healers have looked at him and done what they can, but it's not enough. It'll be a miracle if he survives until morning, even more of one if he actually recovers."

Yugi's eyes widened. "That bad?"

Ryou just nodded, taking a turn into a dark niche before dropping his arm from around Yugi's shoulders. "Listen, I warned you and I don't doubt that you will be welcome to come with us, you have helped a lot. But Atemu might be done for and I'm sorry. I really am. I know how much you two loved each other." He reached out to give Yugi's shoulder a squeeze. "I'm warning you now, it's bad."

Yugi nodded and walked into the niche, watching as a few shapes moved in the darkness, surprised to see Bakura going after Ryou. He stared at the two before walking over to the bedside, Isis blocking his view. Yugi cleared his throat, watching the female turn around with a look of shock on her face. "How is he?"

"Yugi…" She tucked her wings against her back and stepped to the side, Yugi glancing at her before kneeling down beside the bed. His breath caught in his throat as he stared down at Atemu, beginning to shake as he looked at his lover.

Atemu was still covered in his own blood, the only clean spots on him around his wounds, Yugi guessing that they hadn't gotten to cleaning him up completely, which was why no one was allowed to see him. But, even with sections cleared, it was so much blood. Yugi whimpered, reaching up to hold Atemu's hand in his own, gently stroking the back of it as he looked over his lover's body. In the darkness, he could just make out neat rows of stitches from where the gashes were too deep to be healed on their own. The other wounds had just been bandaged, the squares of cloth already stained red from the blood. He could see a few light patches of skin where the healers and used magic on him, but there were more wounds than they could take care of, especially with others in need of the healers' attention.

Yugi felt his eyes fill with tears, ducking his head to press his forehead against the side of the bed as he sobbed quietly, clinging to Atemu's hand like a drowning man. It wasn't supposed to end like this, they were supposed to beat back the invaders and emerge triumphant, not crawl away in the middle of the night, hoping that the channel wouldn't be too rough for those injured. And Atemu was supposed to be standing proudly beside him, not dying in front of him. He bit his lip to keep any sound from escaping, wishing that he had been able to stop Atemu from doing this. "Who did this?"

Isis didn't respond for a while, Yugi listening to her finding other things to do and waiting patiently for her answer. As bonded mate to the prince, he carried the same authority, but he didn't often bring the point up. But now, he was willing to do it, for Atemu's sake. Still, he would give the female a chance to sort out her thoughts, just a few more seconds.

Finally, Isis sighed and turned to look at him. "Aknadin."

"Aknadin?" Yugi shook his head, his grip on Atemu's hand tightening. "But he's Atemu's uncle and he's…you mentioned animals, never one of your kind."

Isis gave a helpless shrug, looking troubled. "Sometimes they are literal, sometimes they are not. I cannot control my visions, Yugi. And it pains me that I cannot."

Yugi stared at her before nodding, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I…I understand." He glanced back at Atemu, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest. "Can you do anything more?"

"We've done all we can, Yugi." She glanced down at his wrist, biting her lip. "I could do something so you wouldn't feel the full pain of his passing…"

"No." Yugi shook his head, Isis taking that as a dismissal before walking away. Yugi watched her go before turning back to Atemu and kissing the back of his hand, hating that his lover's skin was cold. "Stay strong, love, for me. I still need you."

There was no response from Atemu, Yugi ducking his head again. He had never thought that he would come to this point, hoping that Akhnamkanon would be able to keep Atemu out of harms way. He had even hoped that he could distract Atemu from the war going on, but it had only lead to fights between them. He shivered, looking up and hesitating before brushing the bangs back from Atemu's face, hoping that his lover would wake up to the touch. When nothing happened, Yugi sank back onto his heels, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Yugi?" He turned around at Ryou's soft voice, watching the male crouch next to him. Ryou reached out to pet his shoulder looking around. "We're getting ready to move them. Seto is taking us somewhere safe. He's already sent out those that could fly to settle onto the safest island and send someone back to guide us. This is good-bye."

"No, I'm going with you." Yugi wiped the tears from his cheeks and stood up, reluctantly letting go of Atemu's hand. "I have to."

Ryou swallowed, shifting nervously. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't, but Atemu might not make it Yugi. Then what?"

"I'll stay with you guys. This world isn't going to let you live and I'll probably be branded a sorcerer or something. I'd rather live away from this than die so soon." Yugi turned back to Atemu, glancing over him before pulling the light sheet over his body. "I'll be back with my stuff. Don't you dare leave without me."

Ryou gave a formal bow before turning back to Atemu, Yugi hesitating before turning to rush up the stairs back to his room. He dodged through the people rushing around, ducking under swinging arms as he ran down the hall, throwing open the door to his room. He barely gave anything a glance, grabbing the bag from behind the door and beginning to load it up, staring with the few things that his grandfather had gotten him and the gifts that Atemu had given him when they were courting.

He paused, brushing the fingers over all of the trinkets, loving all of them despite their simplicity. Atemu had insisted on not using any of his wealth to give him the gifts, most of them made from what he could find or what he could trade for. Yugi's fingers paused on a delicate stone flower before sighing, turning and spreading out his clothes on the bed and wrapping up some of the more fragile items into them before packing them. Most of the stuff in his room was just junk accumulated from living in the same place all of his life.

Yugi filled his bag as full as he could, bringing along all of the useful things that he could find in his room before swinging the bag over his back and turning back toward the door. He didn't bother to give his room another glance, reaching back in for his cloak before wrapping it around him, rushing back down the stairs. He trusted Ryou to keep his promise, but it was the others who thought that he should remain here, or that he should be taken away from Atemu as soon as possible that he wanted to avoid.

He retracted his steps, slowing when he noticed the lack of life in the main areas of the castle, taking a deep breath before slipping into the great hall, catching sight of Ryou standing in the niche where Atemu was. The healer smiled and waved him over, grabbing his hand and dragging him off. "They've already moved him to a boat, but I was sent here to make sure the two of you stay together. But we have to hurry, Aknadin is on a rampage."

"He is?"

Ryou nodded, ducking into a passage that would lead them down to the village, Yugi remembering the times that he had played in the passage as a child, imagining himself as a hero exploring dangerous ruins. He shook his head, pushing the memory aside as he hurried after Ryou, listening to his friend's breathless description of what was going on. "Most of our brethren are coming with us, but some of them want to stay behind with Aknadin. They're going to hold the castle as long as they can and die fighting. Akhnamkanon hasn't commended them for their bravery, which is putting everyone on edge."

"He sees it as them siding with Aknadin."

"After watching their king prepared to flee, I'm afraid many of them are." Ryou sighed, adjusting his wings so they wouldn't scrape against the walls. "But I'd rather live than die defending a pile of stones. There are other ones just as good."

"Yeah…"

Ryou reached back to rest a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "You know you're welcome with any of us if-"

"Please don't." Yugi looked up at him and shook his head, slipping past Ryou and nearly running out into the open. He didn't want to hear their condolences for his still living mate. He didn't want to hear them offer him everything that he could need just because Atemu was badly injured. He didn't want the reminder that he could lose the most important thing in his life at any minute, he had lost too many important things already; his parents, his human friends, his grandfather and his home. Would it be asking too much if he got to keep Atemu?

He ran through the muddy streets of the village, hurrying after the line of refugees that he could see, slipping into the back of the line and looking around. He wanted to get on the same boat as Atemu, not stuck somewhere else. If Atemu did die he wanted to be there. Yugi swallowed nervously, trying to see over all of the people, freezing at a shout; sure that Aknadin had turned his attention to them.

It was just a guard, the creature spotting him and grabbing onto his arm, pulling Yugi out of the line and spreading his wings to give them room. "Consort of the prince! Let him through!"

Yugi blushed at the treatment, keeping his head down as he was led to one of the ships, the guard departing to supervise the loading. He gave a wave to the guard before cautiously splashing into the water, hands reaching down to help pull him up into the boat, Yugi thankful for their help. He slipped a bit when he was on the deck, weaving his way through the crowd, trying to find Atemu.

He found his lover near the back of the boat, Isis hovering anxiously over him, her tail twitching irritably against the deck. She glanced at him before hissing, the sound more out of annoyance than a threat. "We should not have moved him."

"Then what could we do?"

Isis stared at him before nodding, stepping to the side to allow him to past. Yugi smiled at her before taking his place beside Atemu, reaching for his hand. He paused as he saw Bakura hovering close by, tensing at the sight of the assassin. The white haired-man waved him back with a smile. "Don't worry about me. I'm on your side now. My bastard of a father got what was coming to him. I'm dead if I stay here."

"So you're coming with us?"

"Sounds like fun." Bakura gave a lopsided smile, Yugi noticing that his gaze was caught by someone else, Yugi turning slightly and smiling as he watched Ryou haul himself onto the boat. He smiled to himself, grabbing a hold of Atemu's hand and holding it tightly, listening to Bakura shift nervously. "Does it-"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" He got a glare for interrupting Bakura, but he ignored it. After a moment the man moved away from the rail to talk to Ryou, Yugi smiling for a moment before he turned his attention back to Atemu, barely noticing that the boat had been pushed off of the shore, too busy making sure that his lover was comfortable. He reached up to adjust the pillows before tucking the blanket more securely around Atemu, pausing to stroke the blonde bangs away from Atemu's face, playing a kiss on his forehead. "Fight it, love."

Yugi looked up as the boat rocked a bit, finding himself staring up at Mahad as the creature folded his wings, lowering himself into a crouch to keep from tipping the small sailboat. It was one of the tiny fleet that they had gathered from the village that the castle defended, most of the villagers preferring to lose their boats and the creatures this war was about than lose their lives. Yugi twisted back to look at the faint line that was the shore before turning to look at Mahad, noticing the creature was breathing hard from his exertions.

"Mahad?"

"My king." Mahad bowed to Akhnamkanon, glancing up briefly before resettling himself. "We have found an island that seems safe enough. I checked with the others before coming here, but the humans believe that it is haunted."

"And is it?"

"It has nothing but old ruins, and magic could detect nothing. But it's safe. The churchmen would never go there."

"Or so we hope." Mahad nodded at the words, glancing over at Yugi before looking up at Akhnamkanon again. It was all up to the king on where they were going. The humans who had decided to come with them had put their lives into his hands as well. Yugi swallowed nervously, watching as Ryou tensed, the male reaching for Bakura. He turned his gaze toward Akhnamkanon, not missing the sorrowful glance at Atemu before he nodded to Mahad. "It will be our new home. Hopefully they will believe that we are all killed when they slaughter the fools who remained behind."

There were nods from everyone on the boat, Mahad giving another bow before taking off, the boat rocking a bit as he flew for their new home, Yugi smiling as he held Atemu's hand.

The stones were warm underneath his back, Yugi humming and stretching out a bit more, feeling the aches in his back disappearing. He tucked his arms back under his head, opening his eyes to stare at the sun filtering in through the leaves, a sad smile on his face. It had been a nice streak of beautiful days, perfect for the fields and those who were working outside, but the sunny weather had been dampened by the general mood of the village. Yugi sighed and sat up, wrapping his arms around his knees and staring down at the ground below the ruin that he was sitting on, staring at section of burnt grass that marked where the pyre had been, Yugi ducking his head.

He tensed as something blocked the sun, the reaction automatic from the years at war. Yugi shook his head, reminding himself that they were safe here. The castle that had been their old home had been attacked and razed to the ground, there hadn't been any survivors. The churchmen had spread the news that all of the demons and their supporters had died in that final attack, Yugi closing his eyes. He knew some of the people who had stayed behind, and they had all been killed because of their loyalty to their allies. But at least that meant that Aknadin was dead and that threat was gone.

Yugi tried to muster a smile, just shaking his head and leaning forward to rest his head on his knees, taking a deep breath to steady himself. They had been having a steady stream of funerals since they had gotten here, the building of a new settlement hard work even with their allies. The winter had brought a sickness that their healers had struggled to fight, nearly all of the injured dying that winter. There were still more who were dying when they reached here, the few that hadn't submitted to the human's laws and had escaped to live in peace. A few who had promised to abide by the human's decree had escaped there as well, although they were forced to wait to be freed from the spell that bound them until the community settled back to normal.

He reached up to wipe a tear from his face, hearing the sound of claws scraping over stone. He looked up, struggling to up on a smile as he heard the creature crouch behind him. Yugi was about to turn around when there was a rustle of wings, sighing as the creature wrapped its wings around him, Yugi immediately turning to press his face into the creature's chest with a sigh. A clawed hand brushed over his back comfortingly. "Oh, aibou…"

Yugi looked up at Atemu, reaching up to touch one of the scares that ran over his cheek, shaking his head before standing up to kiss his lips. "I'm alright."

Atemu studied him for a moment before pulling him close again. "It's been hard, hasn't it?"

"Yeah. There's just so many gone."

"It was never going to be easy."

"I know." Yugi nodded, glancing up at Atemu with a smile. "But I still have you."

That got a smile from his lover. "Yes, aibou, you still have me."

He pressed up against Atemu, running his hands over his lover's tanned skin, trying not to flinch as he found the many scars that littered Atemu's torso. He had to remind himself that it was a miracle that Atemu was even alive after the mauling at Aknadin had given him, and he had to be content with that. He smiled and slipped out of Atemu's embrace, going back to lie down in the sun, Atemu curling close to him. Yugi automatically reached for Atemu's hand, stroking his fingers over the warm skin and listening to the soft sound of Atemu breathing. He glanced over at his lover, watching as Atemu struggled to stay awake in the warmth of the sun, Yugi holding back a yawn himself.

He knew it was a stupid urge, that Atemu wouldn't just disappear suddenly, but he found himself watching Atemu. He wanted to be ready in case Atemu did leave him, he wanted to have a stock of memories to hold tightly onto, the memories of the best years of his life.

Yugi jumped as Atemu's hand tightened around his for a moment, the creature opening one eye. "I'm not leaving you, aibou. Relax."

"But…"

"Relax." This time, the command was accompanied by a smile, Yugi finding it impossible to deny Atemu that, scooting closer to Atemu before rolling onto his side, Atemu settling one of his wings over Yugi, cradling him protectively. Yugi shivered at the warm breath of air that drifted across the back of his neck as Atemu settled down, gasping as his lover kissed him. "I'm still here. Stop worrying."

And, in the sunlight with Atemu holding him so close, Yugi found that he could.

Please read and review. Constructive criticism is welcome.