The wooden door of the tavern creaked open as a hooded figure entered. The tiny rusted golden bell rang, announcing his arrival.

With narrowed eyes, the other guests shuffled at the first sign of him. A new stillness filled the air.

Otabek almost smirked behind his cloak, as the demon perched on the next stool with pointed ears and razor sharp claws spilled his ale onto the wooden table that withstood the test of time at the first sight of him. Next to him another shapeshifter made a sharp 'Tst' sound through his teeth.

Nobody in the underbelly of the world, criminals, mercenaries alike, the whole nine yards of deadliness packed inside this tiny space, breathed for the next few moments as Otabek walked without a sound.

Nobody fucked with Otabek Altin.

Nobody ordinary dared to masquerade in here - the beating heart of the assassins' realm, where lives turn into transactions - with such ease either.

The Crow's Foot Tavern, Otabek liked this place, the intoxicating smell of the ale mixed with sweetness of House special pecan pie that could be found nowhere else in this Kingdom. He scanned around the room for his client and located him seated at the back near the wall, sticking out like a dove amidst vultures. Appearances meant little to nothing though. Of the mixed bag of scum and legitimate mercenaries that frequent this tavern, his client would not have been able to make it here unharmed without powerful magic of his own.

Sara Crispino waved at him from behind the counters, her brown hair pulled high in a ponytail fastened by a dark violet ribbon, the same colour as her eyes that flickered with reflection from the candles. He came here often enough for business that he no longer needed to order.

Otabek nodded in acknowledgment. He enjoyed her company, she was as fierce of a fighter as her brilliant unfazed smile. Nobody messed with her either. He liked her because she didn't ask questions.

He turned towards his client and settled on the tall wooden barstool. He loathed smalltalk as he dove straight into business, "how much." He rested his chin on top of his interlaced fingers.

The mage from across the table with messy black hair and a kind face like he couldn't hurt a fly, held up three fingers in slow motion. He wore a black traveling cloak to cover his midnight blue tunic. His shoulder slumped forwards like he could fall at any moment. His fingertips white from his grip around a crystal suspended from a chain at his neck, as if seeking comfort from its presence.

Otabek leaned in, "I'm listening." Three gold pieces lasted an average family an entire year worth of food, it converted to three thousand pieces of silver, which could fill a good sized chest. Most Demons, Shapeshifters alike would be lucky to even lay their eyes an eye on one piece of gold.

'Sorry,' the mage's voice as kind as his face begun from within Otabek's mind, 'I don't mean to be intrusive, and I assure you I will not read your thoughts or access your memories, it's just easier if we talk this way.'

Then extent of power the mage before him possessed and the reason he could show up in here unscathed became apparent. Goosebumps crawled up Otabek's arms, making every hair stand, but of course, his face remained the same, his training would not betray him. Otabek frowned at first then he nodded with residual reluctance.

'My name is Katsuki Yuuri,' The corner of his lip curled up a little, 'and I am offering thirty pieces of gold.'

Otabek inhaled sharply, thirty. I could build more than a few houses for the Shapeshifter village, pay off their debt to the Centaurs, and maybe even fix that bridge. His insides stirred with excitement as he calculated the cost.

'As you already know, the Faerie King is dead,' Yuuri pursed his lip, his brows crowded together, 'the Second Faerie Prince, Yuri Plisetsky is captured.' Sadness filled his warm brown gaze.

Otabek's right eye twitched, Faeries, of course. The only thing he hated more that Faeries was Prophecies. He lost everything because Faeries and damned Prophecies: his home, his kin, he watched Faerie soldiers destroy everything he had ever known and loved. All because a stupid Prophecy that the Faerie King will die by the hands of a Shapeshifter with the serpent form. The scene of a spear piercing through his twin brother's heart before his eyes when he was five years old played over and over again in his dreams. Damien, I will avenge you, he bit the inside of his cheek.

'I want you to rescue him,' Yuuri's determined echoed through his mind.

Otabek sighed, in all honesty he liked the mage before him. Perhaps they could have even been friends. Why would someone like him be involved with the likes of Faeries? He narrowed his eyes in distaste.

Yuuri flashed a half smile, 'I was just the village Healer, minding my own business, until the Eldest Faerie Prince, Victor Nikiforov, showed up half dead at my door.' A faint tinge of pink crept up his face as he avoided Otabek's gaze. His left hand found its way to the translucent stone suspended from his neck fastened by a thin golden chain again.

A Firestone, Otabek recognized the significance of the crystal suspended by a tiny yet intricate metal claw, Victor's Firestone to be exact. Demons, Faeries, and Shapeshifters alike promised themselves to each other by exchanging stone found at the bottom of the Sacred lakes, the equivalent of rings exchanged in the human world. He shook his head, he would never dive for his own Firestone, because he didn't believe in such thing as love.

'Long story short, I came to find you because this is the only way to keep Victor from plunging into the Faerie Court to save his half brother,' Yuuri sighed, 'to bring rain, he exhausted all of his magic, on top of that his injuries were draining the life out of him. I couldn't watch anymore, so I chained him to the bed while he fell asleep so I can come here to meet you.'

More assertive than he looked, amusement rose from within Otabek. He almost admired how fiercely the healer before him protected his Victor.

Then Yuuri spluttered into his apple cider and blushed furiously, 'sorry, that came out sounding wrong.'

'It's alright,' He risked his life for a Faerie to be here, not just any Faerie. Prince Nikiforov must be something. Faeries took after their mother's names. He hated all of them, arrogant creatures that thought of themselves as superior to Shapeshifters and Demons. The Faerie King, who passed away recently, was the worst of their kind. Good riddance. A wave of grudging respect for Yuuri's courage and determination washed over him. Even though plunging into the depth of the Faeries' Court was the last thing he wanted, thirty pieces of gold. He couldn't ignore that sum. Unable to cast aside the image of Yuuko's triplets' eyes lighting up because their roof could finally be repaired, Otabek sighed and nodded. The Faerie King's soldiers, the masked guild named the Faceless Ones demanded tax from the villagers in exchange for the wind and rain so their crops would grow. When villages couldn't pay, the Faceless snatched their young ones away.

Yuuri's smile lit up the room. He sat up straighter. His shoulders no longer hunched over.

Otabek smirked as the disappointment of the pieces of scum shuffling around trying to overhear this conversation grew by the second. The aroma of pecan pie distracted him. Sara nodded at Yuuri, and flashed a curious look as she set down their plates. She wore a velvet form fitting dress with laces at her back, a short knife ending in a giant ring sheathed at her waist.

Two slices of pie and a large apple cider. Otabek craved for those. Though his tolerance for ale beats the average person, only fools drank until they forgot themselves at the Crow's Foot Tavern.

"Good pie," Otabek's real voice escaped his throat as he raised his fork, marveling at the existence of such deliciousness. The dark violet candle nearby burnt out, illuminated the grooves on pecans resembling brains. His stomach no longer lurched at the sight of brains spilling out of broken skulls. It was the nature of his work. The apple cider with just the right amount of sweetness complimented the pie with a touch of spiciness with perfection. If he the world ended tomorrow, this would be hands down his choice for a last meal.

"Amazing!" Yuuri's eyes widened then chuckled, "I am starting to sound like Victor too." As a mage capable of reading minds, his own thoughts resembled an open book.

He loved the Faerie Prince more than his own life, Otabek arrived at the conclusion. Good for them, Otabek rolled his eyes, love is stupid, a liability, an extra target for the enemies. In all of nineteen years of his life, he preferred gold. Money filled bellies, kept the young ones safe, and fixed holes on the roofs. More and more villages hired the Centaurs to patrol the perimeters in case the Faeries faithful to the tyrant king attacked because they couldn't afford to pay taxes. Beautiful girls, Mages demons alike, tried to invited him into their bed. To nobody's surprise, some enemies tried to do him in using that tactic. He ignored them ever since that one time he found himself without his money or clothes. Too many wanted him dead for him to ever consider lowering his guards. Though oblivious, girls still whispered about his looks wherever he travelled. He didn't think any more of it.

"I am going to bring some of this back for Victor," Yuuri helped himself to another bite, "I never knew pecan pies can taste like this. I was skeptical at first, to tell you the truth."

Victor, Otabek sighed, for fuck's sake. Though Yuuri's appeared benign to the ordinary, the extent of his powers frightened even Otabek. If those powers fell into the wrong hands, he shuddered. The ability to read minds, sense emotions such as malice, and to manipulate the will of even the strongest, empathy in its highest form. Chills ran down Otabek's spine. Yuuri could command someone to jump off a cliff if he so desired.

They finished their pies, Otabek insisted on escorting Yuuri out of this area. Even though he knew Yuuri's strength didn't warrant protection. Otabek didn't want one person with a good head on top of his neck amidst this fucked up place to die unnecessarily, not tonight, that would ruin his good mood after having favourite food. Besides, Otabek loved his gold.

Before they parted ways, the healer handed him a bundle, "just in case if Yuri has any injuries."

Otabek nodded. Yuuri planned everything. The more time he spent with the Healer with frightening powers, the more admiration for him grew. He really is something else.

A plan formulated inside his mind, for him to infiltrate into the dungeons of the Faerie royalty, he needed to visit two places

The first of the two nearby and easy, the other trickier, his head throbbed thinking about it.

He nodded at the guards at the city gates, and stalked towards the the forest at the edge of the town with his faithful sword at his side. That blade, forged from the rare steel by the Ancients, was the last possession his late father left behind. As a child, he couldn't help but speculate who the sword his father intend to pass onto because of Damien, his identical twin. But after the Faceless attacked their entire village of serpent Shapeshifters, robbing the life of his entire family, he became its sole heir.

Otabek sighed, thinking about him won't bring him back.

Sometime he imagined what if his brother survived? Would he enjoy the art of the swords? Would he sparred with me? Who would have the more majestic serpent form when we Shapeshift. Otabek shook those thoughts away. You are being stupid, he bit his lip. Damien is gone, thanks to the Faeries. Thanks to the stupid Prophecies conjured by those star gazing lunatics. He hated the Centaurs too.

He turned past a rock that resembled a sleeping monkey before the pine forest and whistled a tune.

Sound of tiny feet scampering on the pine needles approached as Otabek lips curled up, of course his little friend would be dying to be summoned.

A tiny chipmunk with a stripe of golden hair and red interspersed on his back encircled his feet, unable to contain his excitement.

With a snapping sound the chipmunk transformed into a fifteen year old with hair the same shade, a big grin on his face.

I need to make this quick, Minami can be annoying, but without a doubt, his vast network of spies and Shapeshifters in the form of rodents, would definitely be useful for this, "I have a job for you," Otabek cut to the chase.

Minami's eyes widened with awe, "yo-u, need me, for a job, you have no idea how happy I am right now!"

Otabek resisted the desire to bury his face into his palm, his reputation as the most feared mercenary proceeded him, "yes because you are a reliable and powerful source of information." Okay, maybe with one compliment I can divert his gushing speech.

However, Minami's wide brown eyes turned beady for a moment, as if he was about to cry.

Fuck. Otabek's headaches started brewing, "I need a map of the dungeons in the Faerie Court, and the whereabouts of the Prince, Yuri Plisetsky."

"You got it," Minami's balled his fists with determination, he puffed out his chest, his golden hair gleamed in the moonlight, "consider it done by dawn."

He does have some redeeming qualities, such as not asking questions, a wave of affection washed over Otabek. He pulled out the extra slice of pecan pie from the fabric of his travelling satchel, "I remember you like these."

Minami accepted the package with both hands, his eyes bleary.

Otabek ruffled his hair before he vanished into the night to his second destination and prepared for an even bigger headache.

Mila tried to invite Otabek into her bed since the first day they met.

"You need me, Beka," She tossed him a sultry look as he entered her hut in the middle of the forest. Her house, unremarkable from the outside like the dwelling of a hermit in the mountains, but within a different world of luxury and enchantments.

"Don't call me that," he clenched his teeth, for some reason his body reacted more violently to that pet name than any other words.

Mila reclined on her futon decorated in rich cream coloured silks with elaborate floral embroidery. Similar drapes of various shades of violet and amethyst cascaded from the ceiling. She leaned forwards with deliberation accentuating her low cut mauve robe. The air sweet around them, saturated with the scent of lavender. Her beauty undeniable and unearthly, anyone stepping inside her microcosm experienced sensory overload from all directions.

"Mila, do you want to know what I really think?" Otabek grew tired of justifying each time he needed to interact with her the reason he won't sleep with her.

"I'm listening," She stood up, her brilliant red hair rippled in waves.

"Well, I think you deserve better than the likes of me, I sat down and thought hard about my good qualities, and I couldn't think of many," alright, that wasn't as hard as I thought. He hung his pride outside of the door sometimes. He continued, "I know you are not looking for a commitment or anything, but, aren't you ever curious what it would be like with someone who -"

Before he could finish, Mila threw her head back and laughed until tears fell out of her bellflower eyes, her shoulders quivered, "I didn't know, inside that cold, dried up heart of yours there is a romantic."

Otabek crossed his arms, and leaned back on the fine wood of her dresser feigning a helpless expression, "I don't know what you are talking about."

"What about my good qualities then? The hermit who kept exotic pets?" Mila clutched at her stomach from elegant laughter.

"Something like that," A smirk begun to form at the corner of his lips. Mina's natural charms that weakened most men at their knees, but that didn't seem to affect him.

"This is why I like you, Altin," she crossed and uncrossed her legs, "you tell the truth instead of false words of flattery, alright, you wouldn't come find me or make small talk without any reason, what do you want?"

"I need to borrow two of your fire lizards," he spilled the beans, "I'll take good care of them, I promise." Otabek released his crossed arms and followed her.

Fire lizards lived inside volcanoes of the Wasteland, they needed to melt through the toughest stones for burrows.

Mila's blue-violet eyes darted across the floor and settled at the corner, with soundless grace she glides towards two of the lizards and scooped them up into her palm.

One of their eyes, brilliant blue with crimson scales, while the other, coated with orange with eyes like emeralds, "gorgeous aren't they?" The sound of a drawer opening and closing followed.

He nodded. Beauty radiated from everything Mila possessed, Otabek had no idea the kind of power lied within her, she unclasped the lid of a dark violet box with ribbed top and settled the fire lizards inside. When he asked her in the past about her magic, she laughed and responded: that's not important.

"Remember to feed them," she tossed him another bag.

He didn't really want to know the contents inside because from the minute sounds it made, he guessed most likely dead bugs, "thank you." He nodded at his friend.

"Where are you going to sleep tonight?" Mila glanced at her perfect lavender nails.

"If you don't mind, your stable is more than adequate," Otabek raised an eyebrow, the violet cage in his hand.

"You are going to smell like horse."

"I'll sleep in another form."

"Suit yourself Beka."

"Don't call me that."

"I am going to take you apart piece by piece, like pulling legs off an insect." The figure behind the dark mask encircled Yuri's prison.

"Go ahead, Victor isn't coming," Yuri's hair matted with blood, the left side of his face still swollen and blotchy. His white tunic streaked with dried blood at the front, and shredded at the back from the strikes from whips laced with spikes earlier that day.

"Then I'll start wiping demon villages out one by one, that ought draw him out." The Faceless One fingered at his robes and fished out a black key.

Yuri spat at him, his emerald eyes narrowed.

"I am going do something much worse than killing you, Yuri Plisetsky," his dark eyes gleamed from behind the mask of the Faceless, the ancient guild that only answered to the Faerie King. He turned to his lackey, with the identical but less elaborate mask, "clip his wings."

Yuri growled at him, "you'd have to kill me first before I reveal my wings." Faeries possessed the powers to hide their wings, the root of all of their powers, at will.

"Shall I fetch the Sword of the Halfmoon?" The lackey's voice slick, dripping with mockery.

"You mean what you stole from the Centaurs?" Yuri hissed, his sense of smell nulled by the scent of blood, his own amongst others.

"Defiant, aren't we here," the masked figure leaned closer, the tip of his nose, inches from Yuri's as he invaded Yuri's prison, his breaths warm on Yuri's cheek, "hold still, dragonfly," He unsheathed the pale silver sword the same shade as moonlight, with runes reflected from the eerie blue-green Faerie light illuminating this cave that would otherwise have been beautiful. Stalactites flowed from the ceiling, creating a beautiful curtain kissing the stalagmites rising from the ground. A few bat demons with red eyes fluttered about the top of the cave.

No ordinary bars could contain the Faerie Prince as powerful as Yuri Plisetsky, however these were metal forged from the ore originating from the volcanic Wasteland that nullified all magic.

Before Yuri could move, his captor plunged the blade straight into his shoulder, with precision not to kill but to inflict agony. White hot pain accompanied warmth poured out of his shoulder. Yuri refused to cry out loud, to give the Faceless One the satisfaction.

His captor twisted the blade in a different angle, because Yuri gave him everything short of the response he wanted to elicit.

Still nothing.

A familiar sensation erupted from Yuri's back, his heart at his throat. Warmth, filling his body as his wings erupted from the last remaining parts of his white shift, now matted with dark blood and dirt.

Yuri's blood turned cold, all colours drained from his face. The realization hit him as a pebble sinking into a pond. The magic behind Sword of Halfmoon involved revelation of the true self. His crystalline wings, shined bright against the darkness of the cave. He scratched marks on the ground to keep track of days, no long aware whether it was night or day.

The lackey tugged the chain connected to the manacle around his neck and wrists until his chin hit the dark floor of the cave. A centipede crawled before his eyes, coming so close its thousands of legs tapped against the cold and dark ground. Near the centipede, a chipmunk with a tuft of red and gold hair in his back let out a frightened squeaked before darting into the darkness.

Then with a snapping sound, a flash of silver from the sword, and agony like he never experienced before, his wings drifted to the ground. Yuri bit his bottom lip until he tasted blood. His eyes stung.

"Prince Yuri," his captor stooped down and picked up his wings that spanned six feet, "you are nothing now."

Yuri trembled, his fingernails dug into his palm, refusing to give in, "fuck you," his voice reverberated through the cave.

He lost his wings, the seed of the Faerie's power. Yuri shuddered. A Faerie without wings brought shame to the family, and shall be hidden from sight. A Faerie without wings was nothing.

He became nothing.

The cloaked figure sunk to one knee and tilted his chin up, "it's a shame such a pretty face, paired up with such poisonous tongue." He struck Yuri on the side of his head.

Stars danced across Yuri's eyes.

The hinge of the prison door shut, followed by the clanking of the chains and lock.

"I'm not done with you yet, first I strip you of powers, your pride is next, dragonfly," his dark robes fluttered in the darkness, "I am going to make you crawl, and beg me to end your life, and I am going to do it slowly."

Otabek thought up until the age of ten that he belonged to the village of serpent Shapeshifters like everyone else. Then he discovered his other forms and the fact he could transform into any shape he desired, as long as he touched the animal in real life. Observing their behaviour helped too.

The actual words for his rare powers include the Universal, or the Mimic. He preferred the former, the latter sounded diluted and kind of cheap.

He mastered transforming into fire lizards over the next day, even breathing white flames like them.

The map Minami drawn for him tucked inside his pocket and imprinted into his mind, he lit a violet incense at the opening of the cave.

Every movement calculated, precise, he played all of the possibilities from inside his head.

Option one: to fly in as a dragon and set everything on fire.

Option two: stealth.

He opted for his specialty.

The violet incense in his hand sent a thin wisp of smoke into the night air. A part of his mercenary training involves resistance to various poisons. The scent of lavender, seductive and intoxicating, sent the Faerie guards into deep sleep.

Like shadows, he slid past the first four guards, now fast asleep, into the cave lit by glowing spheres of Faerie light, flickering blue and green along the walls. The fire lizards clung onto his favorite forest green shawl. He freed them from the intricate violet cage because animals naturally gravitated towards him — the most powerful shapeshifter in this realm.

The smooth rocks interspersed with moss that glowed in the dark at his feet, he took off the mask of one of the guards passed out on the floor. It fitted perfectly on his face.

A gleam of sword flashed ahead of him, accompanied by lazy footsteps. With lighting fast reflex, from the side pocket of his cloak like the night, he conjured a tube. He lifted it towards his lip and blew in the direction of the next set of guards.

Two fine needle darted their way, the tips contained enough potion to put them to sleep till the next day but not enough to kill.

No one ordinary could afford to hire Otabek, because of how damn skilled he was.

Otabek carried on trekking through the cave, a few bat demons with glowing red eyes fluttered around the ceiling. He memorized the map Minami and his rodent friends gathered, and every convoluted twist and turns.

He disarmed the two Faerie guards by the younger Prince's prison before they knew what hit them. Otabek brushed their necks with the ring he wore on his left middle finger with an onyx stone, they fell into a rumple of swords and wings.

He didn't feel like killing tonight for some reason. Though even if he stormed in here single handed, armed with the power of an Universal, he would complete the mission nevertheless.

Then he caught a glimpse of the Faerie Prince for the first time. His hair the same shade as stars, his skin pale against the gloomy prison where the stank of dried blood perpetually impregnated the air.

Pathetic. Otabek's dark eyes narrowed. The brat probably cried himself to sleep. I think he turned eighteen this year. He almost felt sorry for the Faerie prince when his glance fell upon the place where Yuri's wings had been. He whistled as the fire lizards climbed out of his green shawl and onto his palms. He sank onto one knee and released them.

A pair of emerald eyes met his from the dungeon floor.

Otabek held one finger to his lips as the fire lizards opened their jaw one after another. Blue-white flames erupted from the mouths of such small delicate appearing creatures that fitted onto Otabek's palm. Fire lizards lived on the cliffs with rocks so tough that to be able to create burrows their fire must melt through earth as tough as diamonds.

With a snapping sound, Otabek transformed into the third fire lizard, and joined them.

Three streams of light burning as bright as comets in the sky slowly melted through the enchantments of the bars.

Otabek transformed back to his human form as the orange glow from the melting bars faded into the darkness.

"I'm not leaving," Yuri propped himself up with one arm, wincing.

What the fuck. Exasperated, Otabek's brows furled together, "Oh yes you are." Thirty. Fucking. Pieces of gold. He couldn't ignore that sum. The demon villages need him. He promised the Triplets and Yuuko that he would fix their roof.

"Th-ey'll-," Yuri coughed and spat blood onto the dungeon floor, "start wiping Shapeshifter villages out one by one, when they find that I am gone."

Otabek froze, your family slaughtered everyone that I ever cared about. I lost Damien because of the likes of you. From the corner of his eye, the larger beefier guard stirred, "your kind will kill Shapeshifters anyways with or without you." He whispered. Even if I have to knock him unconscious or put him to sleep, he is leaving.

The fire lizards climbed up his legs, and his chest, ready to leave.

"But-," Yuri's shoulder trembled as he tried to back away towards the rear of his cell. The back of his white shift in shreds, matted with dark brown dried blood.

"Shut it," Otabek scooped him up from behind his chest and his knees, Yuri's weight surprisingly heavy for a Faerie with his frame. They must have tortured him and drained half of his blood, Otabek shook his head. I fucking hate Faeries.

Then Yuri's starlight hair and his hot forehead brushed past Otabek's chin.

He passed out from the pain.

Otabek opened the satchel containing the kit from Yuuri, 'in case Yuri is injured'. His lips parted with awe. He really thought things through. Yuuri didn't seem to be one to take risks, and rashly hire someone for the price of thirty pieces of gold. Everything from instructions to needles to suture wounds, glass vials filled with medication for sedation and to prevent infection laid before him in a neat bundle. Inside even included toothbrushes and a pail to boil stream water to keep wounds clean.

The fire lizards breathed more life into the tiny flame over a pile of sticks and a log Otabek gathered inside a hidden cave in the middle of the mountains.

He cooled the boiled water and tested the temperature with his finger before washing the deep gash on Yuri's shoulder. I am only doing this to keep him alive. He convinced himself. He fathomed the idea of killing the Faerie prince. It would have been easy. The Royal family took away everything from him fourteen years ago. Then he thought about the triplets, the fear in the villagers' eyes of Faerie soldiers raiding. The cruel mask of the Faceless, who only answered to the Faerie king, especially haunting.

He pinched open Yuri's jaw and dispensed a few liquid drops from Yuuri's vial to keep him asleep as he begun to work on closing his wounds. The orange fire lizard with green eyes used his own body as paperweight on top of the instructions from Yuuri's neat handwriting. Otabek shudders as a wave of wind and a few snowflakes drifted into the cave.

He didn't need all of the instructions but he appreciated their thoroughness. He had to close his own wound one time on his legs, without any numbing medication, that hurt like a son of a bitch.

Soreness crept into his neck and his shoulders as he admired his handy work on the wound on Yuri's shoulder. He had no idea how deep into the night it had been.

Yuri's lips trembled, his forehead covered with thin beads of sweat, his breaths pale and shallow against the night air. Even though the cave by the cliffs they settled in shielded them from the wind, the cold of early December seeped through penetrating their bones.

Otabek sighed, as he removed his traveling cloak and wrapped it around Yuri and edged him closer to the fire. Part of him compelled to drop the Faerie inside the fire. With a snapping sound, he Shapeshifted into an enormous wolf six feet tall.

He nestled Yuri into his winter fur.

Secretly happy that the rough texture of his fur rubbed against Yuri's ivory skin, Otabek curled up and rested his chin onto his front paws. I just need him alive long enough to finish this job, who said he had to be comfortable?

Then Yuuri shifted onto his side, his hand clung onto a handful of dark brown fur then buried his face in it.

Otabek opened one golden eye with annoyance before sleep claimed him.

I hate Faeries.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading!

Yuri is 18 in this story.

I have always wanted to write a story where Otabek and Yuri are the main characters.

This story is set in the same universe as my completed fantasy AU: Demon Song. You do not need to read it to be able to follow this (but if you did, there are moments that'll make you smile). Chronologically this is set few lifetimes prior to Demon Song.

Let me know what you think,

-A

Chapter 2:

Otabek definitely liked Yuri better asleep or sedated