It didn't take long for the group to find the wolves' trail. The pack had decided that speed was better than trying to cover their tracks. The fourth night they made camp, all knew that they would be catching the wolves tomorrow and their king could return home safely. Or at least that's what everyone hoped happen. Gwendal was getting more and more irritable with each passing mile. Earlier that afternoon he had splintered a 300 year old oak tree into toothpicks when asked to gather wood for the lunch fire. The day before, he had backhanded one of the guards saying that the guard didn't care for his horse properly.
Gwendal sat stone-faced in front of the evening fire. Conrad could see in his brother's eyes, even if no one else could, that the older mazoku was about to snap. It almost frightened Conrad to see Gwendal in this state. Nothing before had ever shaken the battle hardened general. This just proved how much he cared for the king. Conrad sat beside him and said nothing for several minutes. After a while he decided to try to calm Gwendal a little bit.
"Gwendal, how are you holding up?"
"Fine." His one word answer told Conrad more than Gwendal wanted to let on.
"I don't think you're fine. You know why? Because I'm not fine. I'm worried, no scared, that we're not going to find Yuri. I promised I would never leave his side and what happens? I fall for an ambush and he gets kidnapped. I-I," Conrad looked down at his hands. "I really and truly blame myself for what happened."
"Don't Conrad." Gwendal's voice sounded gravelly from lack of use. "Don't blame yourself. If I had just told him no. If I had just not accepted his proposal, he would never have been in any danger. At least not from these people. I shouldn't have said yes."
Conrad leaped to his feet, anger flashing in his eyes. "How dare you! How dare you do that to yourself and Yuri. He is completely and utterly in love with you and you're going to throw that away?! He deserves someone that is going to love him unconditionally. He deserves loyalty from everyone around him, but especially from his future husband! He deserves the best this world has to offer. I've seen how you look at him Gwendal. I know how you feel. You tried to protect him the best you could, but sometimes we get outnumbered. There was nothing you could do, so stop with the "poor me" act and realize something. You two love each other. You need each other. That's all there is to it."
"He doesn't need someone like me."
Anissina walked over to join the conversation, Gunter wasn't far behind. "Gwendal, we're here for you. We're going to get Yuri-Heika back and then you guys can live happily ever after."
Gwendal shook his head sadly. "His kidnapping has made me see something: I'm not good enough for him. When we get back to the castle and after he rests up, I'm going to break off the engagement and resign my position."
Conrad couldn't help himself. He swung as hard as he could at Gwendal's face. The general barely had time to block the punch, and as it was he still got knocked flat on his back. That seemed to be the last straw. He stood slowly. The ground started to rumble as he lifted his hands. Then suddenly, he spun and took off into the woods. Conrad gave an apologetic smile to the group and took off after his eldest brother. It didn't take him long to figure out what Gwendal was planning. Not far from the camp, Gwendal's footprints stopped and a set of wolf tracks began. He was running off to get Yuri himself! Conrad cursed under his breath and ran back to the camp to warn everyone. Withing minutes, they had packed up only the necessities and followed after Gwendal.
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Gwendal knew he shouldn't have gone in by himself. He knew it could ruin everything, but after the things Conrad said he couldn't resist trying. As he neared the wolves' camp, the fur on the back of his neck stood up. They knew he was here. They were probably already watching him. As if to confirm his suspicions, a voice spoke from the camp.
"Come ahead, my dear Gwendal. Join us. We were just talking about you, weren't we Yuri?"
Yuri muttered something intelligible as Gwendal walked towards the fire. The closer he got, the more he knew that they had done something to Yuri. His eyes looked sunken in. His skin was a waxy, gray color. Bruises lined his arms and legs and who knew where else. It infuriated him. A growl started low in his chest.
"What have you done to him?"
"Oh, just a little of this and a little of that. Don't worry. We haven't done anything too permanent to him."
Gwendal lunged at the leader, knocking him to the ground. He moved to bite the unresisting throat and realized that the man was grinning at him.
"By all means, kill me, but just know that if I die they will kill your true love."
Gwendal pulled back and sat on his haunches. Yuri weakly lifted a hand to entangle in Gwendal's fur, but it fell back against his side limp. The older man saw a silver-gold bracelet shining on his wrist and moved to sniff it, the leader never leaving his peripheral. The scent that hit him was deadly, metallic, and strong. One look in Yuri's eyes and Gwendal knew that this was what made Yuri look so terrible. His haunted eyes stared back at Gwendal and he started howling. The leader shifted quickly and leaped onto Gwendal's back.
"Shut up, mongrel! You'll have the rest of you pack finding us. Remember what will happen if I die. Your precious king will die before I give my last breath."
Gwendal choked back the howling. He knew his friends wouldn't be far behind. Conrad was nothing if not a good tracker. They would soon be attacking the camp and by doing so signing their king's death warrant.
"Now that I'm here, you can let the boy go. It's what you've wanted. Let him go."
"No, what we really wanted is for you to know that you will live while the boy here will die. All because of you and your stupidity. Why would you try to run from us? Did you think you would get far? Did you think we couldn't find you?!" The last question was spit out like an insult and Gwendal visibly flinched. Faint murmuring could be heard and the leader spun on Yuri. "Shut UP! Just shut up won't you! You're not helping anything. We will kill him if you don't shut up."
Gwendal started growling again. He leaned closer to Yuri to hear him speak. "They will kill me as soon as they let me go. They know that will break you entirely and I can't handle that." Yuri struggled to take in a breath. "They've blocked the Maou. I don't know what these bracelets are, but I can't summon him. He's still there and I can feel him, but he's just as confused as I am. Gwendal, my love, run fast. Don't let them catch you. Please I-"
The leader struck Yuri across the face and Gwendal bit his arm, dragging him away from Yuri. "Your fight is with me. Leave him out of it."
The other man smiled wickedly, nodding his head. Three more wolves leaped out of the shadows and surrounding Gwendal. "My dear Gwendal, your friends have arrived. I seriously doubt that they'll be able to handle my small army, but even if they can best them I can die knowing that your lover will die as well."
The leader of the wolves shimmered and changed his shape. Yuri screamed as the four wolves lunged at Gwendal. He could hear tearing and ripping. He'd only seen Gwendal twice now in his wolf form, but he knew the sound of his lover howling in pain. Yuri's vision exploded. He started screaming even louder, his eyes only on the whirlwind of fur and blood. He never noticed the fact that Conrad, Gisela, Anissina, and Gunter slashed their way through the remaining eight wolves. Or the fact that Conrad and Gunter were knocked unconscious and Gisela and Anissina were tied to a tree.
Yuri screamed until his throat was raw. He heard one of Gwendal's legs snap. He started to slam his arms into a nearby tree to get the bracelets off. He could feel the Maou's rage burning in him trying to escape. Yuri couldn't feel the bruises covering his arms. He didn't care. The Maou was taking over, even if he couldn't tap the maryoku powers. Suddenly the bracelets snapped. The Maou leaped forward and before anyone knew what was going on, he had all of the wolves pinned with a water dragon.
TTTTTTTTTT
As Conrad came to, the soldier in him kicked in and he jumped to his feet instantly Alert. Anissina and Gisela were tied to a tree together. Both were fuming. Gunter sat, bound, thirty feet away. Conrad's heart stopped when he saw a profound look of sadness and despair in his mentor's eyes. He caught Gunter's eyes. The adjutant bit back tears and shook his head. Conrad stumbled over to him and untied him.
"Gunter, what's happened? Where's Gwendal? Where's Yuri?"
"Gwendal is going to be fine. Yuri healed him before he..."
"Before he what?"
Gunter looked up. Conrad followed his look and gasped. "Conrad, you have to stop him. He will regret this forever if he goes against all he has believed in for so long."
Conrad looked up again and shuddered. The Maou floated fifteen feet in the air, the wolf leader still in his hands. The usual blue glow surrounded him, but mixed in with is was a red that Conrad had hoped to never see. Where the blue signified peace and justice, the red signified rage and vengeance. If he didn't do something fast, Yuri would regret his actions forever.
"Yuri. Please Yuri. Think about what you are doing. You've always been against killing. Are you going to go against what you've fought so hard for everyone to believe in? Let him down and we can put him on trial. He will rot forever in a cold dark jail cell."
The Maou's glowing red eyes turned to Conrad. "My brave soldier." He smiled gently. "Your Yuri is in agreement with me on this. This... thing," he shook the man, "has not only attacked Yuri himself and his dear loved ones but has also attacked and killed many innocent villagers. Children included. Yuri has decided that this man needs to be dealt with swiftly." The Maou turned back to the whimpering man in his hands. "For crimes against the king, and atrocities unthinkable against his people, your punishment is death. LET JUSTICE BE SERVED!"
Morgif howled gleefully as he was plunged into the murderer's chest. Gunter yelped. Conrad stood in shock, not believing what he just saw happen. The Maou opened his hand holding the man. Everyone flinched as the lifeless body crunched into the ground. The red glow started to fade and the Maou knew he needed to set Yuri on the ground before he, too, fell. He spoke as soon as his feet touched the ground.
"My dear friends, you have supported Yuri in all his decisions. You have always backed him up. Yuri wanted me to tell you this before I return his body to him: justice comes in many forms. Up to this point, he has only accepted peaceful solutions and they have worked for the most part. He feels... naïve for not accepting that punishment is the other side of justice." His voice lowered to a whisper as though he didn't want Yuri to hear the next part. "Please, continue to show him kindness and understanding. He is a sweet person and I have learned much from him."
The Maou faded completely and Yuri collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Before Conrad could kneel next to him he heard rustling in the brush. He and Gunter spun, sword drawn, to fend off any attackers. Both sighed with relief when they recognized Gwendal's green uniform and Yozak's red hair. The new arrivals paused when they saw the crumpled heap not too far from Yuri. Their faces registered the same shock that Conrad had shown only moments before. Gwendal quickly shook that off and limped to Yuri's side. He gathered the king into his arms and the group silently made their way back to camp.
It was agreed that Yuri would ride with Gwendal even though the king was still unconscious the following day. No one wanted to force the general to part with him now that they had finally been reunited. The thing that disturbed everyone, however, was that Yuri had not even budged one inch since the Maou gave him his body back. They all knew that when the Maou used up too much maryoku, Yuri would sleep for days, but those times were always restless. He was a very vocal sleeper and last night not a peep could be heard from him. Gisela was unusually somber whenever she tended him, but told everyone that she would reserve judgment on his condition until they could make it back to the castle and her medical facilities.
Gwendal held Yuri tight against his chest to keep him from falling off the horse. It made his stomach lurch to see how frail his fiancé felt. Gwendal decided to talk to Yuri to hopefully wake him up. The others pretended not to hear, though even Anissina couldn't keep a dry eye at his desperate words. "Don't leave me just yet, Yuri. We haven't had a wedding yet. You haven't helped me pick out colors for our first child's room. Or a name for that matter. I need you here. You've become my life. Who-who else would want to put up with my grouchiness?"
Gwendal's tough armor cracked when Yuri made no movement, even at his poorly attempted joke. He choked back a cry. Why wouldn't he wake up? It would be a long four days back to the castle and Gwendal hoped that he would see his love's beautiful dark eyes looking at him in recognition long before that.
So, another fun chapter. I couldn't just let them get back together so easily. Yuri is so prone to trouble and it is so against his normal character to kill someone. Next chapter should be the last, though. I can foresee wrapping everything up in a nice neat package by the end of Chapter five. Maybe an epilogue afterwards. We'll see how it goes. As always, thank you for the reviews. I really appreciate the feedback.