Chapter 3

My eyes were wide with shock and my mouth was agape. If I had heard this from someone other than Rune, I wouldn't believe it. Lykouleon and Alfeegi were...but what about Raseleane? Did she know what was going on between them? This would certainly explain the Lord's strange behavior last night at the grave. He had seemed almost heartbroken when saying his goodbyes to Alfeegi. Now I knew the reason why: he had loved Alfeegi. I looked to Rune. The young elfin warrior had collapsed in the ground in pain and despair. It looked as though at any second he might start to cry. His beautiful ocean blue eyes were clouded with sadness. Poor Rune...

I knelt down in front of Rune and wrapped my arms around him comfortingly, allowing his head to rest on my shoulder. "It's alright Rune. You can cry if you want to." His body was quivering from trying to repress his sobs. I lightly stroked his back. He's so tense...

"How can you even try to comfort me Ruwalk?" he started to struggle and fight his way out of my arms. "You have no idea how it feels to be around the one you love all the time and not be able to do anything about it! Constantly knowing that someone else is being chosen over you and you just wanting to be held in their arms...you don't know how it feels!" he shouted angrily.

I tightened my arms around him to stop his struggling. "Don't tell me that I don't know how it feels Rune! I love someone too but nothing will ever come of it..." I hung my head. "He's gone now."

Rune stopped and became motionless. "He?"

My eyes started to fill with tears again. "Yes Rune. I...I fell in love with Kaistern." I shook my head slowly and clamped my eyes shut so that I wouldn't cry. "But he's dead so...I guess it doesn't much matter anymore." My arms fell from around Rune's body and hung limp at my side as I knelt there on the ground. All of my strength had been drained. Barely any was left to suppress my tears.

Rune gazed at me gently and wrapped his arms around me. He placed my head on his shoulder and began to stroke my hair comfortingly. "I'm sorry Ruwalk...please forgive me for being so harsh to you," he whispered. It amazed me that Rune was able to comfort me in his current condition. Here he was, pained over Lykouleon, and yet he could still comfort me. He has a great inner strength. I hope that Lykouleon will see that in him someday.

"It's alright Rune, don't be sorry. You didn't know."

"Ruwalk," Rune said. "I want to share something with you. It is something I have not told any other living soul. Keeping it to myself for so long has been very painful. May I tell you?"

"Of course Rune. If it will make you feel better then go ahead."

Rune inhaled deeply. His chest rose and conquered what little distance there was between us. For a second I could feel his heart against mine. He sighed and then began to tell his story.

[It had been a tough battle, one we never expected to fight. Somehow a demon had gotten into the castle. Well actually there had been many of them, but Cesia had said that there was a dark magic at work. Most of the demons had been created from the blood of the demon called Bierrez. Rath seemed to know him. We fought fiercely and, for now, Bierrez is gone.

Alfeegi had sent me off to do some paperwork. He wanted a report on the battle, but I had absolutely no idea what to write. Usually it was Tetheus's job to do battle reports but he was still patrolling the castle grounds for any stray demons we may have missed. Alfeegi would probably make him do another report later.

I walked into my room and headed for my desk, looking for a pen. I hate doing reports, but they must be done I suppose. Pacing my room slowly, I tried to think of something I could write. In all the chaos of battle, I had just tried to stay alive. There was little I could remember clearly. Only two things stuck out in my mind: the near death of Thatz and a mysterious cyclone that had enveloped me near the end of battle. Somehow that cyclone had helped me to regain my elfin healing powers. I believe it might have had something to do with the Dragon Eyes. Since that was all I could think of, I scribbled it down on the form and rushed off to find Alfeegi.

On the walk to Alfeegi's office, I thought about Lykouleon. I sure do hope that he is alright. No demon will ever lay their infested claws on him and get away with it. Not while I'm around. For a while now I've been in love with Lykouleon. Once I even came close to telling him how I felt, but decided against it at the last minute. He would probably reject me anyways...

I reached the large mahogany door that led to Alfeegi's office. I knocked. "Alfeegi?" No response. Again I knocked, a bit louder this time. There was still no answer. Maybe he's with the Lord. So I started on my way to Lykouleon's office. I could hear voices and bits of conversation as I approached. It sounded like Alfeegi and Lykouleon were in the middle of something. The door was open a small crack so I decided to peek inside.

Lykouleon was sitting on his couch with Alfeegi behind him, tenderly massaging his shoulders. My cheeks flushed and a dull ache crept into my heart but I couldn't seem to pull away. I was frozen.

"I know what Cesia said but still, there had to have been some way to prevent that demon and his drones from getting into the castle grounds!" Alfeegi exclaimed.

Lykouleon hung his head and sighed. "No...I remember that demon. He was there when Illuser died and he touched Illuser's blood. At the time I was in so much pain, but now I realize that I should've killed him then. I'm such a terrible Lord."

Alfeegi leaned over the Lord's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "You are not a terrible Lord. Don't talk like that Lykouleon."

"But today I put all of my subjects in danger!"

"Ssshhh calm down," Alfeegi whispered. His arms wrapped around Lykouleon from behind and started to lightly caress the Dragon Lord's sculpted chest. "You're so tense Lykouleon. Don't worry about it ok? For once I'm actually glad that Rath has an obsession with demon hunting. If the demon comes back, Rath will take care of him."

Lykouleon turned around to face Alfeegi. "You're right," he sighed. "Thank you Alfeegi. Now, let's take a little break," he said in an aroused voice while leaning in closer to Alfeegi.

"There's no time right now! Rune was supposed to be filling out some paperwork for me and-"

"Five minutes won't hurt now will it?" Lykouleon unbuttoned Alfeegi's shirt and firmly pressed his lips over Alfeegi's, almost completely silencing him. I could hear a moan starting to build within Alfeegi as Lykouleon laid over him. Finally I unfroze and ran away, dropping the report for Alfeegi on the polished marble floor.]

To have witnessed the one you love in the arms of someone else, is one of the hardest and most painful of things to deal with. I wasn't at all surprised when Rune started to cry in my arms, but I felt a great deal of pity for him just the same. Knowing nothing else I could do, I simply held him close in a futile effort to ease his pain. I wish there was something I could do for him.

There was also anger building up inside of me, anger towards Lykouleon. Ever since he had arrived at the Dragon Castle I had cared deeply for Rune, though not as much as Kaistern, and to see him like this was almost too much for me to bear. I also found myself becoming angry with Kaistern. You selfish idiot. Why did you have to give up your life like that!?

"Ruwalk...I don't know what to do."

I looked at Rune. "Me either, but don't dwell on it ok? You'll only feel worse."

A strange look had come into Rune's eyes. He seemed both entranced and determined at the same time. There was a hint of doubt as well, as if he were unsure about something. "I just feel so desperate Ruwalk. I want to know what it feels like to lay in the arms of another, to feel their heart beating, to be truly loved...don't you wonder Ruwalk?"

Unsure of where Rune was going with this, I cautiously mumbled a yes. Something had changed within him; I almost felt afraid.

"Since we cannot have the ones we desire..." he crawled into my lap and straddled me. I was pushed up against the wall by Rune, with nowhere to go. "Let us find out how it feels together."

In an instant I felt more conflicting emotions than I ever have in my entire life. There was fear, desire, vulnerability and guilt. Even though he was gone, I still felt an attachment to Kaistern, which made me question what I was about to do.

Rune had untied my robe leaving it to hang loosely around my torso. His hands were gently exploring my body. It felt so good that I didn't resist. I unbuttoned Rune's shirt and started to caress the silken skin of his chest. He smiled and sighed blissfully. While I did feel somewhat unsure of what I was doing, it seemed right. I began to kiss Rune's chest and slowly moved up to his slender neck. He tasted sweet, like a sparkling, amber drop of honey. I could feel him grinding against me as I did this and I heard his soft moans. With half-closed eyes and flushed cheeks, Rune leaned in towards me. His breath danced over my lips. He was so close...our lips were almost touching. And then...

Rune pulled away in a sort of shock. Having come to his senses, he looked at me and brought a hand over his mouth. "Oh God Ruwalk...what have I done?" His eyes were clouded with confusion and pain.

"Rune...uh..." I had no idea what to say to him.

"Ruwalk I'm sorry. This was completely wrong of me to do. I just..." Rune stammered out nervously.

I patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay, I understand."

Rune stood and turned to leave. "I should go check on Rath. I'll see you later Ruwalk."

I waved goodbye and watched Rune depart. A sudden wave of exhaustion came over me and I sunk to the floor. What an eventful morning. I hope the rest of the day isn't like this. From around the castle, people were starting to awaken from their slumbers. I quickly threw on a shirt and a pair of black leather pants and headed for the dining room for breakfast.

The nervous chattering of Cernozura and the other maids could be heard even before I got to the dining hall. Rath, Thatz and Rune were there as well. There was no food on the table and there wasn't even the slightest aroma coming from the kitchen. Rune glanced at me with a worried expression, but still managed to blush at the thought of what happened earlier. I knew something was wrong. The most telling sign was the fact that Thatz was awake so early and not complaining about his stomach. "What going on everyone?"

Cernozura rushed up to me. "Oh Ruwalk, thank goodness you're here! The Dragon Lord is missing!"

"He what?!"

She nodded gravely. "Not only that, but Lady Raseleane has fallen ill. I tried to check on her this morning but the door was locked. After a while I managed to find a key to open it. When I went inside, I found her lying on her bed unconscious. She appears to be in some sort of coma."

"Since Lykouleon is gone...I have to act as Lord," I said slowly. "Well, we need to find Lykouleon immediately, but first I think we should hire a doctor to temporarily stay at the castle and keep watch over Lady Raseleane," I turned to the Dragon Knights. "Thatz and Rath, I want you to stay here and fight off any demons that try to enter the castle. Rune will come with me to find Lykouleon."

Rath pouted at me. "Don't get me wrong Ruwalk, I'm glad I get to fight demons and all but how come Rune gets to go find the Lord with you?"

Rune looked over at me, curious as to what excuse I would use. "I just feel that Rune would be more suited for the job," I said. Rath eyed me suspiciously but simply mumbled, "Whatever..." and walked away.

Later...

I had just confirmed our travel plans with Rune. We would leave the next morning at dawn and head for Kainaldia, Nadil's home. I opened the window in my room to let in the cool night air and flopped down on my bed. What a tiring day... It made me almost sad to leave here so soon after Kaistern's death. This place still made me feel close to him. My eyelids grew heavy and slowly began to close. I'm not sure if I fell asleep or not, but a gentle glow filtered into my eyes and forced them open. A young girl stood in my room, dressed in long, flowing clothes and holding a crystal ball in her hands. "Am I dreaming? Who are you?"

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A/N: Finally I finished the third chapter! Sorry it took so long. I don't have very much time to type. I also realized that I forgot to put a disclaimer in here so I'm doing it now. I don't own Dragon Knights or any of its characters. There, now that's done! Thank you to everyone that has reviewed so far. They really motivate me to write. Well, until next time! Ja!