Chapter 10
Author's Note: I just want to give a huge thank you to Puedraws/Pueppiesblog for her artwork that helped a great deal to envision these two to write this. Check out her work on Tumblr because it's worth it!
They had walked for hours, one step after another under the heavy blanket of the canopy that acted to trap the heat from the sun above it. It was a hotbox beneath the tightly woven leaves, so steamy and sweaty that it sucked their energy right from their bones. They panted for breath as they walked, swiping their cloaks across their foreheads and over their necks just to keep their sweat from dripping, but that relief only lasted a few moments before their bodies made more.
"Holy shit... The days need to figure out what season they wanna be in." Taiga panted, swallowing a hot gulp of air that made him cringe.
"Welcome to Spring." Daiki said, his words exhausted and airy from the lack of energy.
"It's as hot as a volcano and as wet as an ocean. It needs to stop." Taiga said, wincing as he pressed his hand against his thigh that stung with sweat that beaded onto the burn beneath the bandage wrapping.
Daiki cracked a lopsided smile as he stopped next to a tree, leaning back against it to take a moment's rest. They were completely surrounded by trees and the air was so thick and humid, that they could see the mist floating around in it like dust suspended in time. It took effort just to breathe and as Taiga leaned back against a tree opposite him, he got a true sense of just how intensely hot it was.
Taiga was drenched from head to toe with sweat.
"We need to find somewhere to cool off before we come down with heat sickness." Daiki managed to find the strength to speak, unable to maintain a smile any longer from the energy required it took just to tweak half of his mouth.
Taiga nodded, "This heat's getting to me," he sniffled through his running nose, "My skin feels like it's on fire." He said, swiping away long lines of sweat from his neck.
Licking his tenderly plumped lips from the humidity, Daiki pushed off the tree and stepped up next to Taiga whom made no effort to get away, as that would require moving and he was far too tired, and far too hot to give a damn. He placed his hands against his neck and forehead, frowning at just how hot Taiga felt to the touch. At first, the heat was hot enough to feel cold before his skin adjusted, and if they continued like they were, one if not both, were going to drop from the soul sucking heat.
"Lets get this off you." Daiki said, continuing to frown as he tugged the strings loose and pulled Taiga's cloak from his shoulders.
With the cloak gone, heat bled off of him like he had just stepped out from underneath a waterfall and he sighed with relief as the heat radiated up from more than just his head. His back instantly felt cold and the shock of the sudden temperature change caused him to shiver and his skin to erupt with heavy gooseflesh as he softly gasped.
"Daiki-" he exhaled and gulped, planting his hands on his knees, but when he dropped his chin to his chest, his vision was suddenly whirling with a dizzy spell.
No longer able to stand, Taiga fell forward, his skin still so hot and so slicked from sweat that he felt as if he was melting. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, but where he was expecting to hit the ground, he was caught in a pair of equally as hot arms that held him to a wall of hard fire.
"Get off... You're too hot." Taiga complained, gulping and cringing as he pushed off Daiki to lean back up against the tree once more.
"You're in bad shape... Come on; I think I hear some water a little ways out." Daiki said as he gripped Taiga's wrist and slung his arm across his shoulders.
Gripping Taiga's opposite hip, Daiki lead him along, holding him tight against his side to help him stay on his feet. He was succumbing fast to the heat, far faster than he was and he feared, that if he didn't find some water soon, than Taiga could be in far more trouble. If he had still had thick hide that desensitized him to the heat, protected him against it, he wouldn't worry, but like this, with his hypersensitivity that wouldn't leave him alone, the slightest increase and decrease in temperature was enough to send him into sensory overload.
The longer he walked, the more Taiga's breathing became short and labored, having a difficult time simply taking a breath through the thickness of it. Huge drops of sweat dripped off his chin, his jaw, his nose, that all splatted down onto the dirt like raindrops from the trees. He wanted to place a kiss to Taiga's temple to let him know that he wasn't alone, but he feared that it would be his undoing. All he wanted was to find Taiga relief and when the muffled sound of a waterfall finally broke through the heat, Daiki started to feel hope beat in his heart.
He climbed the small embankment, taking extra time to settle his foot before hoisting Taiga higher and higher until he finally reached the crest where he instantly groaned with relief at the sight of the rippling pool nestled in a gathering of huge boulders.
"Hang on, Buddy. Relief's coming." Daiki breathed out as he hopped his hips to coax Taiga back up onto his unsteady feet.
His grip tightening around Taiga's waist, Daiki started down the short ditch to the pool's edge where he sat Taiga down on the flattest boulder he could find. He ripped off his cloak and tossed both onto the rock before beginning to strip Taiga down, always keeping a hand on him to steady him in his wobbling. He was barely conscious, but Taiga planted his hands on the stone to support himself on his weak arms if at all to make it easier for Daiki to help him. He quickly pulled off his shirt and boots before doing the same with his own until both were only clothed in their pants before hoisting Taiga up into his arms, supporting him with his own body while he carried him to the pool's edge.
"Daiki... Don't. It'll be... bad." Taiga breathed, but the heat had made him too weak to resist.
"I've gotta cool you down. We both need it." Daiki said without even stopping as he set him down as gently as his own remaining strength would allow.
He took a moment to lay Taiga down on his side before slipping into the water that lapped against his skin just below his pectorals. It was significantly cooler than the outside air, almost feeling as if it was ice water compared to the humid air that was hotter than a dragon's breath. It felt incredible and once he was in, he slipped his hands under Taiga's arms and pulled him in, in one fell swoop which was exactly what not to do.
The second the cool water touched Taiga's skin, he yelped, instantly going rigid from the shock of it against his unruly skin. He instantly gripped Daiki's shoulders as he lowered him down, but the more the water touched, the more his body vibrated with the quickly building pleasure that was assaulting his abdomen just from the temperature change.
"Daiki!... I-I... I can't!" Taiga panted, gasping and writhing as his hips bucked of their own accord in his body's desperate plea to have more sensation.
Daiki winced as he brought Taiga to him and wrapped an arm around his waist, but it left him able to see the expression on his face. The redhead was breathing so heavily, so quickly from his trembling pleasure, that his eyes were closed and his mouth was open with each hissing suck of air. Taiga was completely enthralled by the sensations and as Daiki rubbed his back, knowing full well that he was already filled to the brim from the sensations running a chaotic course over his entire body, and as he placed a gentle kiss to his ear, he leaned back to let the water do its job.
However, as the water crawled up Taiga's back, licking up his spine like a tongue, he threw his head back and ripped with a moan so loud, so lustful, that it sent a chill down Daiki's spine to crash low in his own abdomen.
"Ah!... Daiki! Stop! It's too much! There's too much-... Nah!" Taiga screamed as his whole body erupted like a supernova.
Taiga's fingers clamped down on Daiki's shoulders, digging his fingernails into his flesh as he arced back to press Daiki's face into his chest in his throws of pleasure. Hot jets spurt from the erection that had instantly grown from the overflow of sensations, making him shutter from head to toe as he sucked in the longest, most unbroken breath his lungs could hold as if it was his first he had ever taken. He could barely see straight, could barely keep his voice under control as he moaned again, but as the near instant orgasm ebbed away like the largest tide on the planet being pulled by the moon, Taiga went limp and fell forward.
"Holy shit... What just happened?" Daiki asked, having trouble finding his voice as he held onto Taiga as tightly as he could with no idea how to even digest what he had just witnessed.
Taiga could barely see as he just laid there against him and tried to catch his breath. His eyes stung with moisture as he swallowed, but his body still rolled with the remnants of the orgasm that had come about just from being touched by the cool water.
"I-I... I-I-" Taiga stuttered as a line of drool slipped passed the corner of his mouth.
Daiki held his breath as he dared to rest a hand down on Taiga's back, but the moment he did, Taiga twitched and hissed with a sharp intake of air.
"Ssh-... Hey, just breathe... It's okay." Daiki hushed, softly running his hand up and down Taiga's back to spread the cooling water.
After several minutes, Taiga finally regained enough of himself to thread an arm around Daiki's neck, threading his fingers into his dark blue hair as he buried his face into the crook of his neck. He still shuttered with what remained, but the more soft handfuls of water that Daiki cupped to pour over his back, the more his skin began to calm itself down.
"I-I... I'm sorry." Taiga managed to say, his voice distant and hazy.
"For what? Feeling?... Don't be ridiculous." Daiki scoffed, cupping another handful up onto Taiga's back.
"It was so much... My whole body felt like it was exploding and I couldn't do anything about it. The temperature change made everything feel just... just-" Taiga's voice trailed off as he caressed the nape of Daiki's neck.
"Sounded like it felt pretty good to me." Daiki smirked, pressing the corner of his lips against Taiga's temple as he waded backwards through the pool to keep the water coursing over them both.
Taiga huffed a smirk, "Shut up."
Daiki lowly laughed, "I'm kinda jealous." He said with a low tone as he ran his hand up and down Taiga's spine in smooth strokes.
The deep vibrations of Daiki's voice sent another shiver all over his skin as Taiga finally found the energy to lift his head, his eyes still half-lidded and hazy from his over stimulation. He continued to caress the nape of Daiki's neck as he looked into his eyes and when the tips of their noses brushed against each other, Taiga's body suddenly wanted more.
Closing his eyes, Taiga dipped his head and pressed their lips together, draping his arms over Daiki's shoulders as a leg began to drift up to rest the inside of his thigh against his hip. Hands soon gripped his hips as their lips started to move with gentle scrapings of teeth and nibbles of pleasure as they kissed, their breathing hissing through their noses that were pressed against their cheeks. The sensations that still sparked against his skin were starting to burrow, smoldering low as he leaned harder against him just to feel more, just to feel the much cooler heat from Daiki's skin and when his throat shuttered with a low moan, Daiki's breath caught in his throat as he ground the front of his hips against Taiga's. It only served to show him that Daiki wanted more as well.
"Keep doing that and I'll make you feel what I felt." Taiga growled low, parting their lips just enough to allow him to speak through his rebuilding lust that was this time, caused by a living, breathing creature rather than water.
"I did say I was jealous." Daiki said with a hop of an eyebrow as he bit his bottom lip and threaded his arms around Taiga's midsection to keep him in place.
Taiga crushed their lips back together as he sunk himself down into the water, planting his feet into the silt at the bottom so he was eye level with the other man as he gripped the nape of his neck. His mind was still reeling from overflow as he slipped his tongue into Daiki's mouth, humming with growing delight as he started to step back and drag Daiki right along with him.
However, when his back touched the stone of the edge of the pool, Taiga took over and rolled so fast that the water splashed up into their faces as he spun Daiki around to bring his backside back against his front.
"Somebody's feisty." Daiki breathed, his hands pressing into the stone as he lolled his head over to the side to allow Taiga to have the most access to his neck.
"I warned you. It's your fucking fault for not taking it slow." Taiga growled, tightly gripping Daiki's chin to crane his head around so he could capture his lips once more.
Daiki moaned into Taiga's mouth as he reached behind him to grip the back of Taiga's head, rolling his hips back to press his backside hard into the front of Taiga's hips. It pulled a long growl from Taiga's throat, but when he started getting rough, planting a hard hand down onto Daiki's head to press it against the rock, worry began to build in his chest.
"Whoa... What's gotten into you?" Daiki squeaked as Taiga pinned him against the stone with his own body and started to fiddle with the drawstring of his pants.
"This is what happens when you overstimulate a Drake." Taiga growled again through clenched teeth, near ripping Daiki's pants down to just below his ass.
Daiki's eyes snapped wide, "W-What?" He stuttered, his breath coming faster as Taiga's hands roamed over his hips towards his front.
He started to shake with nerves as Taiga's mouth clamped down on the back of his neck, licking hot lines from his hair, all the way to his shoulder blades before going back up again. His hands explored his hips, following his sex lines until one continued down and the other changed course and headed around towards his back.
The second a hand slipped down his pants and wrapped around his length, Daiki gasped, sucking in a short intake of air as his fingers clawed into the stone with his muscles twitching rapidly. His abdomen tightened and flexed with the firm, yet pleasurable grip that had begun to stroke him, pulling grunts and moans with each long stroke that went from base to tip. It was getting hard to think, to concentrate on breathing, but when a finger, a single, strong finger grazed over his entrance, every inch of muscle that hid beneath his caramel skin went instantly rigid.
"No!... No no no! Not there!" Daiki freaked as he forced himself back to shove Taiga away from him with his whole body.
The second he had enough room, Daiki spun around, pressing himself back against the stone as if he was trying to hide, but he was soon trapped between a pair of arms and under the fiery gaze that was piercing into his soul.
"I have an excuse... I'm so fucking sensitive right now that water makes me hard, but you... something caused that reaction." Taiga said lowly as he licked his lips, gently cupping Daiki's chin to turn his head to the side and run his nose up and down his neck.
Daiki gulped, "Once... It happened once just after I enlisted in the rider's core." He choked out, his breath stuttering so hard that it felt that it was clogging his throat like a stopped up drain.
Taiga's brows furrowed, "If you tell me it was your Captain, I'll kill him and I'll kill him slow." He left a soft trail of calming kisses just below Daiki's ear.
However, Daiki shook his head, "It wasn't. Another recruit who happened to like the color of my skin."
His lips stilling, Taiga lifted his head to stare into Daiki's hazy eyes, noticing that they wouldn't look back. He avoided his gaze as he stared down at the water, pressing further back against the rock and it actually made Taiga's chest hurt to see such a pensive expression on his face. He wanted those eyes to look at him, to see him, so with a surprisingly gentle touch, he cupped Daiki's chin and coaxed him to look up
"I won't... If I had known, I wouldn't have been so rough. Thanks for cooling me down." Taiga said before he started to wade away.
However, when his wrist was caught below the water's surface, Taiga froze and looked back over his shoulder into eyes that were soft, yet alluring.
"Don't just walk away from me without finishing what you started... The feeling of your hand on me?... That alone was almost enough." Daiki said, his mouth small as he tried not to frown.
Taiga's lips parted as his eyes flicked down to peer through the water's rippling surface at Daiki's pants that were barely keeping him decent, as they were hanging so low that the dark blue trail of hair could be seen against his skin. The sight of it made Taiga's belly knot and when he saw how the front of those very pants were pushed out from something behind them, he couldn't stop the lightly crooked smirk from stretching across his face with a spark of pride.
"I don't wanna freak you out." Taiga said, his eyes flicking back up to meet Daiki's as he turned his hand around to fully clutch his.
"Would you rather risk that, or leave me frustrated?" Daiki cracked a lopsided smirk as his fingers wrapped around Taiga's hand.
"Neither really," he licked his lips, "I'd rather have your full attention." He said, taking a step back towards him.
"You have it." Daiki said simply, scrubbing a hand down his face to rid it of hanging droplets.
Seeing Daiki's slowly returning smile, Taiga's unease began to fall away as he returned to him, stepping in close as he grasped his head between both hands. He admired the dark blue color of Daiki's eyes before tilting his head and bringing his lips down where he was instantly met with fervor that almost felt desperate to have more. The hissing sucks of their breathing could be heard over the lapping water and the trickle of the stream that fed into the pool, how their saliva mixed and their low moans bled together. It was all enough to make Taiga's body vibrate with more want and as his hands started to drift down below the water, he moved his lips to the side to suckle and nip along Daiki's neck.
Daiki exhaled a low moan as his head was pushed over, giving Taiga the most room as he gripped both his strong shoulders. His breath hitched in his throat when Taiga pressed fully into his form and tightly gripped his thigh, hoisting his leg up to hook it against his hip and it only made him want more. He wanted to be close, wanted to be pressed so hard against him that their bodies could melt together, so as Taiga did just that, Daiki's other leg rose to wrap both his long legs around Taiga's hips.
"How are you this good?" Daiki mulled, taking in short, quickened breaths as Taiga's hands firmly grabbed his bared ass and pulled him harder against him.
"I'm a bit older than you." Taiga breathed, blowing hot air over Daiki's already heated skin to make a heat shiver shoot through him.
As Taiga's teeth found his earlobe, Daiki rolled his head back, not even caring about the hard grind against his skull as he curled his arms around Taiga's neck. Getting ravished by Taiga's hot lips, Daiki was losing his mind, his member pulsing and twitching that actually ached with desire. When Taiga rolled his hips into his groin, it only made it worse, but the best was yet to come when Taiga's hand slipped between their abdomens and held their lengths together.
"Fuck!" Daiki hissed, his mouth agape with pleasure as his fingers clawed down Taiga's back.
"Melt for me." Taiga breathed, running his tongue down Daiki's neck as he started to stroke both their lengths.
Daiki was seeing stars the more Taiga stroked them, his muscles quivering nonstop as he was filled with sensations. He was awash with heat, with cold from the water, with the warm breath that left Taiga's mouth every time he opened it to place another kiss along his neck. He was getting greedy and he could feel it as he started to roll his hips in kind, firming up Taiga's strokes until his hand actually pressed into his abdomen to get at his entire length. The pulls of his skin going taut along his member made him shake, needing to grip Taiga all that much harder to keep from slipping underwater, and when he stepped back just enough to lay him flatter, still leaning up against the stone, he simply didn't care anymore.
"Finish me off, Taiga... Fuck... Please finish me off." Daiki begged, reaching a hand up to grip the top of the rock to help keep him up as Taiga's mouth sucked hard on a nipple.
Taiga growled as he continued to suck and nip, pulling and stroking firm both of their lengths that were twitching together. His entire lower half was aflame with building pleasure, but he wasn't sure if he could bring it to fruition himself. He could feel everything to such a degree that just a breath was enough to make him quake, but by his own hand, it wasn't the same. He wanted Daiki to touch him, to pull him along and when he got just that, he wasn't able to divide his attention anymore.
Taiga brought their bodies back together once more as he stroked Daiki and Daiki stroked him, both moving in sync with long, agonizingly slow motions that dragged out their pleasure to the point that they both writhed with more need. Daiki moaned again as he used his chin to lift Taiga's face, opening it up to claim his lips and when they touched, the heat started to skyrocket.
"Bring me home, Taiga... Nah... Make me cum just like you did... F-F-Fu-... Shit, I'm on fire." Daiki begged through their hot, wet and sloppy kissing that slicked their lips with saliva instead of water.
Taiga growled hard as he tightened his grip around Daiki, tugging faster and more ragged as Daiki returned the favor. He was shaking so badly that he was sure he was about to fall over the edge, but when that string in his abdomen broke, snapping against everything in its path, he let go everything that had built up.
Both erupted with hot jets that immediately dissipated in the water as their throats ripped with delighted moans and hazy gazes. They shook against each other, their lips still touching, but their mouths open to pant into each others mouths as they rode out their climaxes that rolled like a boulder downhill. It took ages for the boulder to stop and as their lengths squirted a few more weaker jets, they finally began to level out enough for them to hold their heads above water.
Their foreheads touching, they took what felt like hours to regain their breath, to let their eyes clear of the pleasurable haze that had filled them entirely. Their lips were swollen from use and heat and their breathing was panting in and out, slow and true, as they fell into red and blue.
"You have my heart, Taiga." Daiki whispered, gazing into his eyes through his lashes as he began to softly caress the nape of Taiga's neck.
"And you have mine, Daiki." Taiga said just as quietly as he nuzzled his nose against Daiki's cheek.
"I wanna give you the best... I wanna take you away from the Crimson Kingdom where no one can get to you. I'll die to protect you." Daiki said, slicking his tongue across his own lips to ease their swollen numbness.
"If you die, I'll follow you... No one's ever showed me love before and I won't let anything separate us now. Not even death has that kind of strength." Taiga said, his voice low and meaningful as he gripped the back of Daiki's neck to keep him right where he was.
Daiki held his breath as he tilted his head that tiny amount to bring their lips back together for a much slower, much more controlled kiss. All he wanted in that moment was to relish in the feeling of having Taiga against him with his legs still wrapped around his hips. He wanted to be selfish, but the slightest thought, the slightest image of Taiga was enough to make him want to sacrifice it all. He wrapped his arms around Taiga's neck and with his eyes closed, he felt the water creeping up his neck, spurring him to take in a deep inhale.
The cooling water crashed over his head as they sank, still kissing and still holding onto each other. His ears were filled with the hum of the water, but he could still faintly make out the sound of their lips as if he was hearing it in his mind. He could have stayed there forever, in fact, he would welcome it, but when his lungs began to scream for air, he was forced to make his decision.
Unwrapping his legs from Taiga's hips, he planted his feet and broke their kiss to rise to the surface, bursting through with a huge suck of air as he tossed his head back to throw water out of his hair. It splashed against the rocks and peppered the dirt, and as he started to fall back down into the cooling water, its surface was broken once more by two toned crimson and a smile.
"Lightweight." Taiga chuckled as he raised his arms and caught Daiki under his arms before his feet could touch down onto the sediment at the bottom of the pool.
"Not a Drake." Daiki laughed, returning the smile as he rested his hands down onto Taiga's shoulders as he lowered him down.
Taiga beamed as he grasped either side of Daiki's jaw and planted a firm, stilled kiss that only lasted a moment, but both smiled as wide as their cheeks would allow just by the fact that they were close. They were feeling so much better now that they were cooling off and as their moods started to lift, they situated their pants back to where they belonged and splashed.
After a water fight that had ended with Daiki winning by pinning Taiga to the rocks and kissing him furiously, they pulled themselves from the pool and rung out their pants before getting dressed. The air was still hot and heavy, painted with mist from the humidity, but now that they had cooled off, it actually felt good as they packed their things to resume their journey, but this time, they left their cloaks off.
The trees never once parted to let fresh air in, leaving the pair to take it slow and steady, or risk becoming overheated again. Every scent of the rain forest assaulted their noses, from molded vegetation, to animal, to sewage and everything in between. Fungus added its earthy undertone every time they stepped down into soft dirt and after several more hours of forging a path through the forest, they were exhausted, hungry and once again dripping in sweat.
They were about to give up for the day and find a cooler spot to settle down, but when the trees finally gave way to release a wave of much cooler air that made them go rigid from chill, they realized they had finally arrived.
Daiki and Taiga stopped, panting and exhausted along the treeline, staring out over the massive clearing that was large enough to house the entire town, and the Crimson Castle without bunching anything together. Trees were felled and the forest floor had been traveled so much, by so much, that the roots had been crushed and the foliage trampled. The sky was so blue and void of clouds that it left the bright white sun an unhindered path upon which to burn the ground and in the center of it all was a giant, wide open and jagged canyon that dove so deep, they couldn't see the bottom from where they stood.
"This is it. The fisher." Daiki said, still breathing a bit heavily as he gripped a knee with one hand, and shielded his eyes with the other.
"The orcs have deforested everything around it to open up the space. Look there," he pointed down the fisher to his left, "They built scaffolding to get down into the canyon." Taiga said, swallowing down his breath despite his dried throat.
"We'll need to find another way. That'll be too obvious." Daiki said as he stood up straight and locked his fingers behind his head.
Taiga rested his hands on his hips, "We don't have any rope, do we."
Daiki shook his head, "Not an inch."
As they stood for a few minutes to give themselves a break and breath in the much cooler, much less humid air, the distant sounds of metal hitting stone came echoing up from the wide fisher. They glanced at each other with furrowed brows before silently agreeing that they needed to continue, and with shallow nods, they stepped forward and out into the blistering sun.
They put their cloaks back on despite the heat to protect their skin as they quickly ran for the edge of the fisher, crouching low just in case there were any look outs. Several towers could be seen across the way, but with the sheer width of the fisher, seeing brown against brown was going to be tough. They got down on all fours and crawled up to the edge where they laid down on their stomachs, but when they peered down into the extravagant depths, that was when they saw exactly what the orcs were up to.
However, it wasn't the sheer vastness of the operation that their eyes were glued on, but rather, the giant facade of a temple that was carved and built right into the canyon wall.
"By the gods-... How long have they been at it?" Daiki reeled, his eyes wide as he watched the army of orcs digging and working around the temple entrance.
"It's gotta be every since the quake." Taiga said, his brows furrowing as he drank in the site.
"Is that the temple?" Daiki asked, keeping his head low as he studied the intricately crafted stone of the buried temple.
Taiga remained silent as he stared at the goddess whom was perfectly crafted directly out of the rock, how her robes flowed and hair bled into the hard earth as if she was being formed from it. She was an elegant beauty, a long standing figure of the relationship between life and soul and she was so beautiful, so graceful that even though her eyes were closed, their stone gazed into every soul that set their eyes upon her.
"Taiga... Hey." Daiki's voice said, finally coming back into existence from his staring.
"Huh?... Oh, sorry," he sighed, "Yeah... That's the Temple of Amalphia." Taiga said, finally blinking as he glanced over at him, but only for a moment before looking back at the far off structure.
Daiki's brows furrowed as he watched Taiga's gaze grow distant, almost unseeing as he just stared. He was captivated by the temple, the way the goddess blindly gazed down at the large archway entrance just below her bare, jewelry covered feet. He was lost by her beauty, but why, he didn't know.
"What's wrong with you?" Daiki asked softly as he brushed a gentle knuckle down Taiga's cheek.
"Nothing... I just never thought I'd actually get to see it in my lifetime." Taiga said, never looking away.
"Why?" Daiki asked, rapping that same knuckle against Taiga's chin with the hopes that he would look at him.
He did.
"My memories are fuzzy, but I remember the stories my broodmother would tell us at night while we laid over the warmed coals. She would say that Amalphia's beauty was so great, that souls from across our world would travel here just to get the slightest of glimpses of her. She was so radiant that even blind men were granted the gift of sight just to relish in it for the briefest of moments. Her temple used to be open to all; Man. Drake. It didn't matter, but all were welcome until one day, a malevolent king tried to force Amalphia to love him. She refused, saying her love was for all, but the king wouldn't listen. He tried to steal her away and that's when she cast everyone out of her temple and closed the earth around it. Just before the earth sealed her in, she said one final thing that was cast in stone." Taiga explained, holding Daiki's gaze the whole time while he spoke.
"What did she say?" Daiki asked, dropping his hand to clutch Taiga's.
Taiga turned his eyes back to temple, "No one shall have my heart. Not man. Not Drake, but should a love that deserves my blessing bare its soul to me, than I shall open my temple and embrace it. I shall wait for it, and for every thousand lives of a thousand Drakes, Man and Drake alike can try and convince me that true love exists."
"The Goddess of Life and Soul... Love." Daiki said, shifting his eyes over to the temple to watch the orcs dig and work.
"A notion that embodies both one's life, and one's soul. You can't love in life without bearing your soul." Taiga added as he returned the gentle grasp on Daiki's hand.
"So that quake must've marked the end of that thousand lives of a thousand Drakes period." Daiki said.
Taiga nodded, "A million years. A thousand lives of a thousand Drakes is a million years."
"But I don't understand what she meant by Man and Drake alike... Was she expecting Humans and Drakes to get along?" Daiki asked, gently swallowing as he shifted his gaze back to his lover.
"She couldn't have predicted the Draken Conflict. There's a story about the last time her temple was open a million years ago. When Amalphia opened her temple, a long descendant of that king tried to win her love by bringing her the heart of an elder Drake broodmother. She became so enraged by it, that she severed the king's bloodline to never be seen again before giving her undying blessing to the Drakes. This angered Man so much that they swore vengeance on the Drakes for being in her favor and that's what lead to the inevitable Draken Conflict." Taiga explained, never letting go of Daiki's hand as he watched the orcs cart off a huge lump of rough stone away from the exterior temple wall.
Daiki scrubbed his hair, "It festered for eons before someone finally decided to act." He growled.
"It was The Order of Draken Blood. A brotherhood that swore a million years ago to get vengeance the next time Amalphia's temple was unearthed. They counted the years, the decades, the centuries until it was time and slaughtered us before the temple could open again. They intend to break Amalphia's heart so she'll submit." Taiga said as his eyes became distant once again.
"The Order of Draken Blood?... But all the scrolls I read when I looked into the conflict all said that it was a war of kings." Daiki said as he slightly tightened his hold on Taiga's hand to let him know that he was still there.
"Backed by The Order. It wasn't uncommon for a king to be apart of the brotherhood, but those that weren't, were soon convinced." Taiga said simply.
Daiki gripped the meat of his shoulder, "Why wasn't it mentioned then?"
"Why do you think, Daiki? Because history gets muddled the more it gets written. My kind lives 100,000 years and by the time we get there, we're ancient beings with so much knowledge that even Man could put aside their disdain just to learn from us. It all fucking changed because a bunch of Humans are vengeful and wanted us dead over a story. By the time it was time to slaughter us, The Order of Draken Blood's own history was so fuzzy that I guarantee, that if you asked one why they hate the Drakes, they couldn't tell you." Taiga said with a low growl in his voice, his brows drawing down further as his jaw tightened.
"Hey," he exhaled, "I didn't mean to upset you. This is probably really hard for you huh." Daiki said, releasing Taiga's hand to brush his fingers over his cheek and push aside a sweat lumped lock of hair.
"And all we did wrong was exist." Taiga said lowly without looking at him.
Daiki's brows furrowed, "What?... Taiga, it's not wrong that you're alive. Why would you say that?"
"Isn't it?... If any of the Humans before you found out I'm a Drake, I'd be dead and your Crimson King would have my head on his wall. You're the only Human in existence that doesn't see a prize whenever you look at me." Taiga scowled, but was able to look at him for longer than a fleeting moment.
"Well... You are a prize, but not how you're thinking." Daiki said with a hop of an eyebrow and crooked smirk across his face.
Taiga wasn't able to keep from smiling at the mirth filled look in Daiki's eye, how it glimmered in the intense sun and looked at him with the same expression that it had since they started to be close. It warmed his heart; his strong, beating and rhythmic heart that he was being as regarded something more than just a wild animal and under his gaze that was so blue and so cooling, that very heart fluttered with a sensation he not only didn't understand, but had started to enjoy.
As his face twitched to produce a gentle smile, Taiga lifted his hand and rested it down against Daiki's jaw, brushing his thumb just beneath his eye, but as far off yells began to flutter up from the busy bottom of the fisher, those gentle smiles of love were wiped from their faces as they looked back down at the army of orcs.
Both sets of lungs gasped as their eyes set on a creature none had every seen before, a creature only ever heard about in stories and art. It was massive in comparison to the orcs whom only reached its hips and it walked on two long, strong and very dragon like legs. Its arms were thick with muscle with claw tipped hands that had four fingers and a thumb, and sprouting from the creature's back was a huge set of obsidian wings that were tucked in close to its back. An enormous tail swished with each giant stride that stomped and its head was demonic with a pair of long curved horns that swept back just like Taiga's did and it's entire form was wrapped with charcoal black skin that was patched with areas of blood red scales.
"What the fuck is that!" Daiki yelped, but managed to keep his voice no louder than a harsh whisper as he stared dumbfounded at the beast as it angrily ordered the orcs around.
"No-... No, it can't be... They're forbidden!" Taiga reeled, his heart racing and his breathing stuttered as he refused to blink.
"Taiga?... What is it? A demon?" Daiki asked, only able to tear his eyes away from the creature long enough to glance at him.
Taiga shook his head, "N-No-" he gulped, "It's a dragonkin."