"It's unlocked, Finn," Kurt called and proceeded to finish wrapping Blaine's arm. Both boys were trying to steady their breathing and emotions from their almost kiss, so neither of them looked at the dragonborn when he poked his head into the room.
"How's your arm, B?" Finn asked, completely oblivious to what he had just interrupted.
"Much better," Blaine answered. "We had better get some sleep. Before we set out for Zhallas in the morning, we need to revisit Oliver."
Finn's face wrinkled in confusion. "Who's Oliver?"
"He's a very nice bookseller we met. His shop is on the edge of town. Blaine wanted to buy a few books from him," Kurt explained, turning toward the door. He was feeling a bit better now.
"Sounds like a plan," Finn said. "See you both in the morning."
"Goodnight, Finn," Blaine said as Finn closed the door, leaving them alone once again. "I'm going to go wash up as best as I can without getting this dressing wet."
"I'll go in after you're done," Kurt replied somewhat shyly, still not completely calmed down from their almost kiss.
On his way out of the washroom, Blaine brushed up against Kurt accidentally as they crossed each other's paths. The boys looked at each other, not fully knowing what the other was thinking. Before anything could progress, however, Kurt walked the rest of the way into the washroom and shut the door without a word. Blaine took a big, calming breath and proceeded to get into one of the two beds in the room and pulled out one of his journals.
Kurt came out of the washroom a few minutes later and got into the other bed. After he snuggled in, he blew out the candle lighting his side of the room. Blaine was having a difficult time concentrating on writing down the events of the day, so he put the journal away and blew out his candle as well. He lay there in silence, thinking about if he should bring up the almost kiss or not.
Finally, he decided he needed to bring it up if he had any chance of calming his mind enough to sleep, if only to see if they were at least on the same page. "Are you still awake, Kurt?" he whispered into the darkness.
Blaine heard the blankets rustle. It sounded like Kurt was turning over to face Blaine's direction. "Yeah, too much on my mind to sleep right now."
"What are you thinking about?" Blaine asked. "Please be about me and the moment earlier."
"Well," Kurt began after taking a cleansing breath, "I was wondering if we should talk about what happened before Finn knocked on the door."
"I'm probably going to mess this all up," Blaine said into the darkness, butterflies in his stomach as he turned toward Kurt. "I really wanted to kiss you earlier. Since the moment we met, I've had this feeling that I just wanted to be around you."
"I wanted to kiss you, too," Kurt replied. "I'm really nervous about this progressing, Blaine. You know my history with Sebastian and how awfully that ended."
Blaine gasped, hoping that Kurt wasn't comparing him to Sebastian, especially since Blaine knew one of the biggest reasons for their breaking up was Sebastian's lust for power and magic. "Surely, Kurt doesn't think I am like him."
"I know you are a completely different person, and I'm not comparing you to him at all," Kurt clarified after hearing Blaine's gasp. "What I meant is that I will need to take things slowly if we are going to have this...these feelings...between us go anywhere."
"I can do that," Blaine answered with the biggest smile on his face. "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, Kurt. So if I mess up, you'll have to tell me. Please don't just assume I will know."
"I will make sure to let you know if you mess anything up," Kurt replied, smiling fondly in the direction of his new...something.
"So," Blaine began coyly, "can I kiss you now?"
Kurt didn't answer. Instead, he got up out of his bed and knelt beside Blaine's. His hands framed Blaine's face, and his thumbs caressed his soft lips. Kurt leaned down, and when their lips met for the first time, the boys felt like fireworks were exploding in their bodies. Blaine reached out his hands, caressing Kurt's face and neck as well. The kiss didn't deepen any, and it only lasted for a few seconds. It was, however, the most perfect first kiss in the history of first kisses as far as either of them were concerned.
"Yes, you may, Blaine," Kurt breathed in response to Blaine's earlier question. He leaned down to kiss Blaine one more time before returning to his bed, happy they'd finally taken that step.
"Wow," Blaine said, drifting off to sleep with the biggest smile on his face.
When they woke up in the morning, both boys continually cast shy glances at each other until finally, Blaine had had enough. He grabbed Kurt's face and kissed him again. It wasn't more than a peck, but it broke the ice. "Good morning," he said after the kiss.
"Well, yes, it sure is," Kurt replied shyly. "Um, Blaine, could I ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything," Blaine said, nervous he had already messed something up.
"Would you mind terribly if we kept this between just us for now?" Kurt asked, knowing he needed to clarify after seeing the look of defeat on Blaine's face. He knew from the stories Blaine had told him about growing up that Blaine was likely taking this personally, assuming that Kurt was ashamed of being seen with him. "This is not about what you think," he explained. "I want us to get to know each other, as a couple, before we let anyone else know. I want to give us time to be...us. Does that make sense? Is that ok?"
"Thank you for explaining," Blaine said. "I think that's an excellent idea and not anything like what I was thinking." He shook his head, feeling a bit silly now for letting himself instantly think the worst of what Kurt wanted to talk to him about.
"Shall we meet up with Finn and get going?" Kurt asked. He couldn't help himself, he leaned in and gave Blaine one more short kiss.
"We should probably eat before we head out," Blaine suggested as they walked down the stairs into the main room of the inn. They spotted Finn seated at one of the tables, already shoveling food into his mouth, and decided to join him.
After the boys were sufficiently fed and had grabbed food and drink for the days to come, they headed back to Oliver's store, only to find that it had caught on fire during the night. With a sharp cry, Blaine rushed in, dropping his bag of holding and putting out the flames with his magic while trying to preserve everything he could. It broke his heart to see the books engulfed in flames. He could hear some commotion coming from outside, though he couldn't discern who it was or what they were saying. As he was tackling a rather large flame and coughing from the smoke, a steady hand grabbed him and pulled him outside. Blaine fought against the grasp, desperate to save the shop.
"Blaine," Oliver's voice broke through his concentration, "let it go."
"All of your books..." Blaine lamented, looking like he was gearing up to head back in when he started coughing yet again.
"They're just books," Oliver tried to make him understand. "They're just things. They can be replaced; you can't. Even though I've only known you for a short time, I can tell that you are way more important than all of those books combined."
Blaine didn't know how to respond to that. All he could see was someone's livelihood going up in flames, and he wasn't able to help. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more," Blaine said after he had stopped coughing.
"You did enough. More than you know. You showed me that there are people in this world who are willing to do things for others without requesting or demanding anything in return first," Oliver told him. "You showed me that there are people who are willing to put their lives on the line to help someone who they will likely never see again. You and your friends saved those kids. You broke whatever spell was put on this town. You care, Blaine. And don't you ever let anyone try to tell you you don't."
"Thanks, Oliver," Blaine said blushing, tears forming in his eyes, and it wasn't from the smoke.
The old bookseller smiled. "Before the fire really got going, I was able to grab a couple of things I had set aside for when you came back, and I want you to have them," he said, handing over a scroll of some sort, a book and three vials of a clear liquid. "These will help the three of you on your journey."
The scroll was actually a map of the area, and though it was a little scorched in some places, it was readable. Blaine flipped through the book while Kurt and Finn looked over his shoulder. It was a book of rare creatures, monsters, and demons not likely to be taught about in any school.
"The vials contain holy water," Oliver told them as the boys all looked at him with confusion written on their faces.
"Thank you for these," Blaine said to Oliver as both Kurt and Finn nodded in unison. He tucked the vials carefully into his belt.
"Are you sure there isn't anything we can do? I could try to go back in and put out some more of the fire," Blaine offered before Oliver cut him off.
"No, Blaine," Oliver said. "You're not going back in. It's time you guys got out of here. I sense you're on the hunt for something or someone, and you're not going to find it here."
"You're right," Kurt said. "We need to be heading out, Blaine. By the looks of the map we just got, it might take us a few days to get to Zhallas."
"Be careful, you three," Oliver said, making eye contact with each one of them. "Take care of each other and trust one another."
The boys nodded in thanks and headed north toward Zhallas.
After the boys had walked for a couple of hours, Blaine cast his first of two spells. He needed time to calm down from the adrenaline rush of the fire, and the disappointment of not being able to do more for Oliver. The first spell he cast was to bond the group telepathically, knowing that what he was going to do next would make any other form of communication unavailable. Then, he magically transformed [Polymorph] himself into a young copper dragon. He told the other two to mount his back and ride for as long as the spell lasted. This way, they could get to Zhallas quicker and find their next companion.
"Why the copper dragon, dude?" Finn asked, looking on in awe of Blaine's new form. "Don't you know there's, like, a million different types of dragons?"
Blaine eyed Finn warily, unsure if he knew that his information on dragons was completely wrong. Deciding to ignore the blunder, he simply replied, ["My magic is limited. I can only morph into a select number of creatures, and this one's the most powerful I can be right now. Come on,"] he beckoned. ["Hop on."]
"That's so cool!" Finn said, climbing ungracefully onto Blaine's back. "I've never met anyone who can do magic. What else can you do?"
Blaine was silent, waiting for Kurt to climb aboard. ["I went to a school of magic for several years,"] he replied finally, glancing back at his passengers to make sure they were settled. ["I can do a lot of things, but I'm still learning. Magic is something you can only get better at over time if you practice."] He took off into the air, a bit unsteady at first until he got used to his wings.
"Can you teach me?" Finn asked eagerly, wiggling a little bit. "There are so many things I want to learn. Like, could I become my sword?" He glanced down at the weapons hanging from his hips. "It would be so cool if I could become my weapons. Then, I could, like, slice things with my head!" A huge, dopey grin grew on his face as he imagined what that would be like. "It would be like a headbutt, but so much better!"
Blaine sighed heavily; thankful the dragon spell only lasted an hour. He wasn't sure how much of Finn's babbling he could take.
The traveling took a couple of days, each morphing spell only lasting an hour and Blaine only being able to cast it once per day. Blaine put up his hut each night after Kurt hunted for their food and they had all had their fill. After the first night, Blaine decided that he would conjure two huts from then on out due to Finn's thunderous snoring. At least, that was the cover story. Kurt and Blaine also wanted to have some time just the two of them to feel out their new relationship.
They arrived at the coastal town of Zhallas mid-afternoon. The city, as far as they could tell, was deserted save for a few goblins. The air smelled dead for lack of a better word. When the goblins saw Blaine transform back into his normal form, they made a deal with the trio that the goblins wouldn't attack them if they didn't attack the goblins. The goblins knew they would be no match for anyone who could transform into a dragon, and the trio really didn't want to waste any energy fighting if they didn't have to. All parties were in agreement.
Blaine felt a magical pull at the far north end of town. Along the way, the boys came across several things in abandoned buildings, including gold, which they split, 15 pounds of diamonds, and a pair of gloves and bracers that seemed to enhance Blaine's magical abilities.
As they made their way toward the magical pull, Kurt and Finn began to feel it as well. They entered a house in the northernmost part of town and were drawn toward some stairs that led down into a series of tunnels and caverns. While they were walking, Blaine made sure their telepathic bond was reconstituted so that they could communicate without alerting anyone that they were coming. They had talked strategy while they were traveling and came to an understanding that Blaine would first try to speak with anyone the trio came across. Kurt and Finn would have their weapons ready should they quickly find themselves in combat. Blaine had prepared a list of spells that morning that would both help him and the group both defensively and offensively.
On their way down the stairs, the air changed from fresh with a tinge of salt to warm, humid, and smelling of animal dung. Once they got off of the last stair, they stepped onto the very wet ground, making their feet soggy. There was no light save for a floating, dying, blue orb. They proceeded toward the magical pull and found themselves in a small opening that led to some sort of hallway. Before they could begin a discussion about what to do, they were being attacked.
Each boy was attacked by two creatures, their claws causing considerable damage as they pinched and pierced the skin of each of the boys. Once Blaine was able to get a good look at the beings, which looked like humanoid spiders, he knew what they were and how to fight them most effectively.
["These are ettercaps. Their bite is poisonous. And be on your toes if they shoot a web at you,"] Blaine told his companions through the bond.
Finn pulled out both of his swords and easily thwarted the two that were attacking him, slicing their heads clean off. He then went to assist Kurt as the poor elf could only club them with his bow since they were too close to shoot. The two that were attacking Blaine were both in front of him. Knowing that he had a spell [Burning Hands] he could use that would not damage his friends, he put his thumbs together, spread his fingers, and shot thin sheets of fire toward the ettercaps, scorching their bodies though not killing them yet. The spider creatures attacking Kurt and Blaine were able to get in another attack attempt since Blaine's spell was not able to finish them off. Kurt and Blaine anticipated the attacks, and while they were able to pierce them again, the damage was not as significant as it could have been. Blaine finished off the two attacking him with more fire, finally killing them.
The boys all looked a little worse for wear. Kurt and Blaine were discussing their next move, and neither was fully aware of how amped up Finn was.
Finn's adrenaline was pumping, and he was ready to find whoever they were looking for. His worry about what could be happening to their lost companion with these creatures lurking around had ballooned significantly during the fight. While Kurt and Blaine were still trying to come up with a logical plan and strategize, Finn rushed down the hallway in search of their newest companion. "CHARGE!" he called as he barreled recklessly down the hallway.
["FINN!" ] Kurt shouted at him through their bond. ["Come back!"]
"AHHHHHH!" Finn yelled as he ran straight into a minotaur. "Dudes, I need some help!"
["Can you tell me what it is, Finn?"] Blaine asked as they ran down the hallway to help their companion.
["I can't remember the name. It's like a cow and horse mixed together,"] Finn answered desperately while he dodged the minotaur's attacks.
["Minotaur?"] Blaine asked.
["Yeah! That's it,"] Finn answered, sidestepping another swing from the minotaur's greataxe.
When Blaine and Kurt came into the hallway and could see what was going on, Kurt nocked an arrow and shot it, hitting their foe in the left arm at the same time Blaine cast a spell that filled the beasts' ears with dolorous bells [Toll the Dead]. Getting hit with Finn's scimitars and Kurt's arrow at the same time startled the minotaur, and he was unable to mentally deflect Blaine's spell. Thus, the bells had an amplifying effect on the minotaur's pain, and it was brought to its knees. The beast tried to take a swipe at Finn since he was the closest to him, but the pain from the attack was too much for him to handle and he missed his target. Finn was able to take one more swing at the now very injured minotaur and cut his head clean off of his body.
"I'm getting good at chopping heads off today," Finn said, proud of himself.
"These guys rarely travel alone," Blaine began. "We need to keep our guard-" Before he could finish his sentence, another minotaur appeared and charged straight into Blaine's torso with his horns. Blaine was now severely injured, though he was still able to fight, likely due to the adrenaline rush he was currently experiencing.
While the minotaur was scuffling with Blaine, Finn and Kurt attacked it simultaneously. Kurt was livid that this beast was hurting Blaine so gravely, and he took an extra calming breath to ensure his arrow did not miss, and struck the minotaur right between the eyes. Finn did a great deal of damage, beating the new beast with both of his scimitars repeatedly. The final blow, though, came from Blaine, attacking it with the same dolorous bells as the previous minotaur.
As the second beast fell to the ground, Kurt took a second to listen and sense if there were any more heading their way. When he ascertained that no more beings were going to come after them, he went over to Blaine to assess his wounds.
"Are you okay?" he cried, running over. "Are you hurt?" When he saw that Blaine didn't appear to be dying, he began to examine him carefully. "I can do magic," Kurt remembered all of a sudden. "It's nowhere near as powerful as what you can do by any means. I can help heal your wounds, though, if you'll let me." Kurt was pleading with his new boyfriend to not reprimand him regarding his memory lapse in telling him this important information.
"Please," Blaine ground out in a great deal of pain. He would talk with Kurt about this later.
Kurt touched each of Blaine's wounds and was able to close them and stop the immediate bleeding [Cure Wounds]. He also poured a little of the rejuvenating water into Blaine's mouth, helping to seal up a few more wounds. Blaine would definitely need to rest after they got out of this place in order to finish healing the internal damage. Kurt helped Blaine to stand, and they followed the pull of their new companion several more feet down the hall. Blaine weakly conjured his silver orbs to help them see more clearly.
The magical pull dropped away as they happened upon a figure wrapped in a spiderweb. Blaine, having read about ettercaps in the past, recognized the web as one of theirs and knew that it needed to be doused in water to dissolve it. He relayed this information to his companions, and Finn dumped some water down the length of the cocoon and nothing happened. In his pain, Blaine forgot to mention that it needed to be holy water. Finn took the vials that Oliver had given them and made a line down the web so that it could be pried open. Inside the web lay a female copper dragonborn.
Having the feeling that the new dragonborn was the key to getting to their next location, Blaine knelt painfully down and put his hand on the shoulder of the seemingly peaceful dragonborn. The girl opened her eyes to reveal that they were glazed over and said in a monotone voice, "You will find the drunken, mohawked one near the city as named by the mirror girl." She closed her eyes again and stirred, appearing to be waking up from a trance.
Kurt had been looking around the room and noticed what he assumed were their new companion's clothes, weapons, and gold. He carried the items over to her and gave them to her, glad to see that she was fully awake and coherent now.
"Who the hell are you three?" the girl asked in a no-nonsense way.
"It's a long story," Blaine started. "I'm Blaine. This is Kurt and Finn." He pointed to each of his companions in turn. "I will explain it all once we get out of this place."
Their new companion ignored them until she was fully dressed. "I'm Santana," the dragonborn stated, securing her weapons to her person once more. Once she was finally dressed, the others had a chance to take in her appearance without looking like they were ogling her. She was very toned and muscular, wore intricate armor, and carried two shortswords on her hips.
The group headed back up the stairs and were thankful once they could breathe fresh air again, the dead smell having dissipated. Along the way, Blaine and Kurt relayed the prophecy and their mission to Santana, showing her their marks and pointing out hers. Kurt had been thinking about their next destination while Blaine was explaining everything to Santana. He guessed that they would find their new companion in Slosa, where Liddel, the girl that was trapped by Sitroll Mord, was from.
The group made a small camp for the remainder of the day. They knew that Blaine needed to heal, and they would need to figure out the best way to get to Slosa. Santana went to scout the shoreline for a boat, taking Finn with her to try and catch something to eat while Kurt stayed with Blaine and attempted to magically heal his internal wounds.
"I'm really sorry I didn't tell you before," Kurt explained again. "I honestly can't think of why I didn't mention it. Sometimes, I forget I can do magic since it isn't something I do all the time. One day, while I was hunting, I felt a shift within me. All I can figure is that I somehow tapped into the nature around me, and it granted me some magic. I've found that I can communicate with some animals, and I can befriend them easier than I can other people. I think, maybe, when I was aware that Sebastian was seeking out people to teach him magic, I repressed it. He never knew I could do anything other than hunt really well."
"I'm not mad, Kurt," Blaine said. "Honestly, I'm thankful that you have other ways to protect yourself. You're so important to me, and I'd hate for anything bad to ever happen to you. Knowing you have some magic eases my mind, especially if your bow ever breaks, and you don't have any other way to defend yourself. Is your magic mostly defensive or offensive?"
"There are some offensive spells that I can do, though there aren't a lot I have discovered yet. Most of them are defensive," Kurt replied. "I'm still tapping into it, and it's taken me a while to learn what I can and cannot do. I feel like a lot of precious time learning was lost while I had to repress it, and now that I can access it again, I will have to start practicing."
"Maybe that's something I can help you with, if you'd like," Blaine offered.
"I'd like that a lot actually," Kurt answered.
Finn and Santana came back to the camp a couple of hours later with news of an abandoned ship. Blaine had started a fire, and Kurt was cooking some meat that he had stored in his pack from a kill the night before. They added in what Finn and Santana had found as well, making quite the feast.
The group enjoyed learning a little bit about each other while they ate and discussed the best way to get to Slosa. They agreed that sailing would be the least taxing and would give them all a chance to heal from their wounds.
Blaine conjured two huts. Santana agreed that she would stay with Finn. She claimed she was uncomfortable sleeping with elves, though Blaine wondered if she could tell that he wanted some time alone with Kurt. Blaine felt that she was a very perceptive dragonborn, able to see more than she would ever let on.
Kurt and Blaine talked about the happenings of the day and how scared Kurt had been when he saw Blaine get gored by the minotaur.
"I'm fine, Kurt," Blaine assured him. "I don't want you to worry about me when we're fighting. You'll get hurt trying to split your focus, and I'll be worried that you're worrying about me." He rubbed a hand gently up and down Kurt's arm.
"I know," Kurt agreed. "I'll try to concentrate." With a yawn, he patted his mat. "We should get some sleep. We have a long day of traveling ahead of us tomorrow."
"We should," Blaine said, settling down on his own mat which was not far from Kurt's. "Good night."
"Good night, Blaine," Kurt whispered into the dark.
Right before he fell asleep, Blaine sent his mother a message [Sending], [I'm doing well, Momma and Papa. I've made some new friends, and we set sail in the morning for Slosa. Talk soon and love you!]
Blaine heard back before fully succumbing to sleep, [Stay safe, my darling. Your Papa, grandfather, and I love you, too.]
The next day, the group arose early and set sail toward Slosa.