Book I: BORN IN DEATH
By: NEVAEVA
Chapter six: DAWN'S KISS
Tetri was in a foul mood that evening, to say the least. He had nowhere to go and nothing to trade for food and board, roaming the town of RedHot like a wandering street rat. Some kind soul at the local market offered him a bit of milk to feed the crying baby whose voice turned hoarse from strain. Tetri was looking for work, any work, really, that would put some coin in his pocket. Alas, there wasn't anything he could find that matched his skill set. He had to pass on few offers for manual labor, and another one for a gentleman of the night. Discouraged, tired, and hungry, he'd finally decided to give up for the day and try again tomorrow morning.
He'd thought about seeking shelter in town among others like him, homeless and penniless. But the little cautious voice in the back of his mind would not leave him alone, whispering one disastrous scenario after another. What if someone steals Julia? What if he gets knifed in the back when he's sleeping? What if someone lays hands on the baby and pays for it with their life? Tetri bit his lip and shook his head, hating that feeling of paranoia that's been growing in his heart ever since Aana and he fled The Eye. He had no friends, no home, and no real means of taking care of himself, much less Julia. He cursed under his breath, lost and annoyed, as he strode down the alleyways and out of the city. He'd finally decided to spend the night under the cover of the forest that sprawled to the west of RedHot and stood like a black wall in the fading twilight.
Somehow the thought of camping among the trees was more comforting than the prospect of huddling under a damp town bridge. He's always liked the outdoors, having spent his childhood with the nomadic tribe of Two Crow. They never stopped for long in any one place, moving from town to town as his family commenced the trade of goods and services. His father was a master chef, and his mother, being a deeply religious person, was a revered Speaker for the Gods. Tetri's lips stretched in a bitter smile at a fleeting memory of her. 'How ironic,' he thought, 'that your son, the son of a Speaker, turned out to be an arrogant mage, rejecting your every belief and your way of life. Maybe you were right when you said that turning away from Gods would bring me naught but misfortune. You'd certainly gloat if you saw me now, mother…'
His head full of dark thoughts and his heart filled with self-pity, Tetri stumbled through the dark edge of the forest. His feet tangled in the thick undergrowth and pine branches clawed at his clothes and scratched at his skin. The night was surprisingly warm and foggy, blood-red mist caressing the hazy line of the horizon and the setting disk of the sun. It was quiet and peaceful out here, a nice contrast to the ever-bustling town life, with only an occasional hoot of an owl and a steady chirping of crickets all around him.
Tetri didn't wander too deeply into the woods. He made a camp in a dry clearing overlooking the town, watching the lights and the smoke from the chimneys rise up into the night-fallen skies. He got a fire of his own going. He'd picked a handful of mushrooms and roots on his way though and planned on baking his improvised dinner in the charcoals some time later. He wasn't a stranger to getting by with very little, his main concern being the baby's comfort. She was wet and fussed a lot, her ever-hungry little stomach growling angrily.
"Hush… hush now, little Miss, I'd feed you if I could. I'm afraid we both have to go without much substance in our bellies tonight," he murmured gently and touched her small scrunched up face, his gloved hands trying to calm her down. Maybe it was his weariness or Julia's whining, but Tetri wasn't immediately aware of unusual noises coming from behind the trees to his left. Sounds of breaking twigs, heavy breathing and cursing, and what seemed to be the racket of an animal. Startled, he jumped to his feet and looked around for something to defend himself with, finally grabbing a long jagged stick and pointing it in the direction of unknown danger.
"Whoa whoa… Heya, mate!" Tetri paled as he recognized that voice before he even saw its owner, gripping his weapon tighter as he watched his new 'friend' from last night stumble ungracefully into his camp site. "What's with all this hostility? And here I was expecting a much warmer welcome after I shared a drink with ya," Koren continued in the most nonchalant way, his brown eyes glowing amber from the reflecting firelight.
"…Did you follow me?" Tetri hissed lowly, taken aback by this sudden, unwanted reunion. He'd always known that this man befriended him on false pretenses, but to follow him into the woods? It was going a bit too far for Tetri's liking. "Answer me! Why are you following me? I have nothing of value on my person, as you can very well see for yourself, and if it's the company that you're after, I'm afraid you're not welcome here."
"I've told ya already, I mean ya no harm… I just want to talk is all," Koren grinned widely and scratched the back of his head. He'd been carrying two heavy bags which he unceremoniously threw on the ground, making Tetri twitch a little from the sudden movement. "So what say you, mate? Can I just rest my feet for a while?"
"And why in Raya's name would I let you anywhere near me? You've caused me nothing but trouble, costing me near all of my possessions and a safe place to rest my own feet. I will not break bread with you and I can't help you!" Tetri was growing more and more agitated as they continued that little staring contest, Koren finally giving in and turning his gaze up at the moon, a small sheepish smile playing on his lips.
"Oh really, now? Maybe I should just go back to town and tell them that I found the death demon skulking about. I'll say that yer seeking out a pretty lil lady for yer next kill. And what's more, you were the one that started that whole damn mess at the Mare… if I remember it right," Koren argued stubbornly, hoping that the memory served him right since he was quite intoxicated that evening. "But ya know what, mate? I'm not against being the bigger man and all that. It's all water under the bridge, right? Here…" he pushed a bag with his foot in Tetri's direction, wincing as he did so. Tetri looked down to note that Koren's breeches were dirty and torn, and a patch of reddened flesh on his calf peeked through. Paying a bit more attention to the other's state, Tetri noticed that his face also displayed signs of a struggle, some scrapes and scratches on his cheek and forehead.
"What's this?" the young mage asked suspiciously and lowered his stick to rummage with it through the bag's contents, finding, to his surprise, all of the possessions he'd carelessly forgotten at the tavern. "How… how did you know this was mine? And how did you get your hands on it?" he continued to question Koren, his resolve to get rid of the blonde man quickly fading. Koren owed him nothing and didn't have to return the satchel. And yet he did so, earning Tetri's gratitude even though he wasn't ready to admit to it.
"Let's just say I know a guy," Koren shrugged and grinned when he saw the sudden change in Tetri's attitude, thinking that this would be the perfect time to sweeten the deal. "But wait, there's more!" he couldn't contain prideful glow as he pulled a goat through the thicket, the animal making displeased noises. "I thought to myself, why bring a pint of milk for yer bubby, when I can bring the whole beasty, right?"
Tetri was at a loss for words, uttering a small 'thank you' as he accepted Koren's bribes and let him sit near the fire while he milked the animal and fed Julia. Koren watched him for a while, his curious dark eyes studying Tetri's slighter form when he thought that the other wasn't looking. He couldn't help but find this young man attractive, what with his long dark silken hair and almond eyes, his honey skin and toned body, and of course his stubborn, willful, but very practical mind. He couldn't very well tell the mage that the 'guy' was, in fact, a mysterious couple that seemed to have an unhealthy interest in him. He couldn't say that he'd been paid very well to look after the baby, and to deliver them any information he might trick Tetri into sharing. There was, of course, the source of Koren's own curiosity that caused him to make acquaintance in the first place. Still, he decided not to pry into Tetri's affairs as carelessly as he did the day before.
"So… Koren, right?" the younger man said with a long sigh as he sat down on a fallen log, the infant content and asleep in her basket. "I really am grateful for all of this. I'm a bit jumpy and quick to anger these days, through no fault of yours," Tetri managed a small smile and accepted a piece of cured meat and a sip of grog generously offered to him by the other man. "So if you tell me what it is that you need, I'll do what I can to be of assistance."
"Thanks, mate…" the blonde man answered softly, enjoying that semblance of a smile on the other's face. "Yer gonna think me silly, a dim-wit or some such when I tell this to you, but…" he paused to rub his leg as he stretched it out and winced, "I think I'm special, ya see."
"…That you are," Tetri commented sarcastically and rummaged through his satchel of herbs and potions. He pulled out a jar with a milky paste and knelt down at Koren's leg, waiting for him to pull up his breeches to expose a day old wound. Tetri sighed and ignored a glare aimed his way as he took the beverage from Koren's hands and poured it unceremoniously over the gash, somewhat pleased with a deep-throated hiss that followed. Koren didn't let that sting of pain to get in his way of admiring the youth bent dangerously close to his groin, his breath hot on Koren's thigh and his hair tickling the bits of exposed skin.
"It's no joke, mate, I mean it," Koren continued, watching Tetri's nimble hands slide over his skin as the mage expertly cleaned and dressed the wound, that soothing ointment of his working wonders already. "I never knew my parents and, like I said before, I don't know where I come from. I've been living here and there, doing this and that. But this one time I had a dream, a real odd dream that I can't forget till this day. I've got this old broken ring that was given to me by the old folks that raised me, which, according to them, was passed on by my birth mum, see? So in this dream this ring of mine is whole again and all sparkly-like; I just have this feeling that it means something, that it's real important somehow. And in this dream I'm surrounded by my real family. I didn't see them faces and I don't know who they are; I just know that we all belong together and all that sap."
"I see," Tetri said thoughtfully when he was done wrapping a cotton cloth over the injury, his lids heavy with sleep and his mind hazy. "Vivid dreams like that, dreams that you can't easily forget, tend to come from Raya. They are more like visions, really, and I've heard of them before. But why do you think I can help you reforge that ring, or whatever else your intentions might be?"
"I don't know if you can help me personally," Koren continued stubbornly, poking at the glowing embers of the fire and studying Tetri's sleepy face, "but I was told that mages have a knack for knowing strange things, things no other person would know. I guess I just want to find out if there's a direction I should take in life… you know, look for my mum or for the other half of the ring. And wherever should I start looking? A magic manipulator could tell me something like that, couldn't he? Yer the first mage I've laid eyes on in a long while, so when I saw you the other night at the bar, I thought to myself 'hey, there's a mage dying of boredom. Maybe he can help me out; and if he can't, then he ought to have some other magi friends, right?'
…Do tell him… Let him be aware of the real price a mage charges for his services…
"I wish it were so," Tetri replied with a smile as he gazed at Koren curiously, wondering if this unlikely story was the truth or something he'd made up on the spot like before. What other reasons would he have to follow him, though? If Koren wanted to harm him or Julia, he had ample opportunity to do so. "Unfortunately, I'm not what you call a conventional mage. My people are deeply religious, as you know, so once I chose the path of a mage I also chose to be an outcast. And I'm afraid that I'm just that, an outsider, with no real connections or ties to either side."
"Ya like to march to the beat of yer own music, don't you, Tetri Two Crow…" Koren spoke softly, his eyes even softer as he inched closer to the youth, wondering what would happen if he were to grab a fistful of that silken raven hair and plant a kiss on those tempting lips. But he didn't dare, afraid to tear the thin layer of trust that was so hard to build. Tetri shrugged but didn't immediately pull back, his eyes downcast as he checked on the baby.
"I go with my gut and do what feels right," he answered dryly, bothered somewhat by the way his name rolled off Koren's tongue. It gave him a sensation of uneasy excitement, a feeling that he'd almost forgotten. "And right now my gut tells me that it's time to catch a few hours of sleep. I'll keep first watch if it's all the same to you.'
Koren had no objections to that. The fire was low and the moon was high in the hazy night sky when he crawled into fur lined leathers, his feet close to the warmth of the embers. Tetri sighed and watched him sleep for a long while, comforted by the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest and the sound of his steady breathing. Koren slept soundly, not unlike Julia; it was not the sleep of a man with unclean conscience. Tetri tried to push inappropriate thoughts out of his mind but failed miserably, too tired to deny the fact that he definitely liked this man, in more ways than one. He gently touched Koren's shoulder a few hours later, waking him to take up the next watch. Koren stretched lazily like a large cat and crawled out of the sleeping bag, offering Tetri to take his turn. The younger man gladly did just that, snuggling into the heated furs and inhaling Koren's scent left behind. He smelled like smoke and sweat and sunlight, an odor very specific to him and far from unpleasant.
The sun was rising when Tetri woke with a start. Blinking, he stared at a pair of smiling fawn eyes just three inches away from his own. Koren's face loomed above him, the light of dawn bursting through his platinum dreads and somewhat blinding. Tetri sucked in a breath and tensed up, confused as he was fresh from sleep.
"Do you… fancy men, Tetri Two Crow?" Koren purred softly, his voice low and laden with seduction. His breath was hot on Tetri's cheek and his eyes hypnotized him to the point where some parts of his body became more rigid than others. "Do you fancy me?"
"I don't…" Tetri mumbled back, choking on his own words. Koren blinked quickly and pulled away, releasing him from that overwhelming stare that sent both chills and waves of heat down his spine. He looked disappointed. When Tetri regained some control of his vocal cords, he continued quietly, "I don't have a preference, that is. And yes, I do find you to be… very forward; it's quite refreshing." The older man smiled widely as he searched Tetri's eyes with his, his body inching closer to its original position.
Tetri sucked in a ragged breath as he bit on his bottom lip, waiting for several painfully long seconds for Koren to make a move. Not getting what he wanted, he reached out and grabbed a handful of blonde hair and pulled the other in, their lips touching ever-so-slightly before they locked together. The kiss was soft at first, hesitant, but Tetri was growing impatient. He pushed Koren's lips open with the tip of his tongue, sliding it deeper into the warmth of the other's mouth until it met his. Koren let out a deep, throaty sound, eagerly accepting Tetri's tongue and rubbing his own against it.
Koren tasted sweet, hot, and tangy, just as Tetri thought he would. The youth moaned into the kiss, his skin flush with growing desire as his mouth continued to ravage the other, sliding his tongue along Koren's lips, and teeth, and gums. He couldn't stop even if he wanted to, the stress and tension of the last couple of days begging for release. He pressed his body closer to Koren, enjoying his warmth and the hardness of his chest, his hands sliding slowly along the man's neck and down his shirt.
"Careful, mate…" the blonde whispered breathlessly into the kiss, catching Tetri's hand and guiding it lower to the very obvious bulge in his trousers, "once you set it free, it becomes your responsibility." Tetri grinned and bit on Koren's bottom lip, not being very gentle.
"It's not very wise to trust me with such a substantial object," he whispered into Koren's ear, licking the edge of it before trailing quick butterfly kisses down the man's neck. Koren groaned. "But I'll use it in a fitting manner, and… just so you know, I can make it shrivel up and fall off should you try something too adventurous."
"Good Gods, mate… you sure know how to get a man hard…"
But hard he was, thrusting his hips into Tetri's hand that cupped his sex, the friction of the fabric being a poor substitute for skin-to-skin contact. Tetri smiled with the corner of his mouth as he slid his hand inside, his fingers brushing against the soft patch of hair before closing in on the throbbing flesh. He watched curiously as Koren's lips parted, his breath hot and ragged, his head thrown back and his dreads dangling messily. Tetri enjoyed what he saw and what he felt with his hand, a small smile playing on his lips.
"More…" Koren moaned deeply, his voice low and husky when he gazed deep into Tetri's eyes, his hands grabbing hold of the youth's head and drawing him in for a long, forceful kiss. Tetri trembled all over, the heaviness in his own groin becoming painful when he closed the distance between their bodies, his leg thrown over Koren's hip. He quickly untied the front of his breeches and his own erection sprung free, wet with beads of desire. He burned all over, his mind drawing a blank as he allowed himself to disappear into the kiss, his body eager to feel the touch of another.
Koren didn't need another call to action as he, too, pulled down his trousers and grabbed Tetri's hand again, this time wrapping them both around his twitching manhood and sliding them slowly up and down its length, his lips kissing any part of Tetri's body they could reach. Tetri let slip a little whimper when their lengths touched, feeling the heat and hardness of it, and the smoothness of its skin. He breathed quickly, unable to draw this out any longer as he gripped them both tightly and stroked, his hand sliding up and down the shafts, quicker-then slower-then quicker again. Koren's heart pounded against his own, the man's lips and tongue, chest and sex hard and hot and wet against him. Again, again, and again he moved his hand along both of their lengths, his fingers sliding over the tips now and then.
"Oh Gods… Tetri…" Koren rasped lowly, his arms wrapping ever tighter against the smaller man as his hips thrust desperately into that touch. Tetri buried his face in the crook of Koren's neck when the building pressure became too much, his hand moving quicker and quicker until he came with a low moan, his lips kissing and licking Koren's neck and collar bone. He didn't stop his ministrations after his own climax, his fingers sticky and hot with seed as he proceeded to stroke Koren's sex until it too, released into his hand, the man's low groan and inaudible whispers tickling the back of his head.
"It was… it was…" Koren was at a loss for words as he panted, planting a soft long kiss on Tetri's parted lips. He's had his share of lovers – women mostly – but it never felt so good to touch another person and be touched by him. Just to be with him. There was something about the youth that made him feel pure joy in that moment.
"It was what it was," the mage said softly but firmly before he wiped his soiled hand on the corner of Koren's shirt, pushed himself up and walked off to the stream down the hill to relieve himself and wash up. Koren scowled and cursed under his breath, feeling cold, alone, and somewhat used when Tetri left him so hastily. He thought they'd both enjoyed it more than they should have, but it was hard to tell with that mage. Maybe they just used each other, nothing more, and he shouldn't take Tetri's rudeness too close to heart.
T B C
Character art available at nevaever. deviantart. com (no spaces)