Le Jeune Guilavene

Chapter 22:

Allen and his crew relaxed inside a tavern, eating the last meal they would have that day and checking over their supplies. They had reached shelter just in time, a heavy blanket of rain clipping at their heels as they went. The tavern itself was a modest, but well kept little stop on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Its sole purpose was supply food and rest to traveling merchants and farmers who found themselves too far from a local town to stop at. This meant it was blessedly free of gamblers and prostitutes for which Allen was thankful, as his most of his party was the type to look for a brawl or simply be the victim of one.

For the moment, everyone was content to sit in the dim, comfortable atmosphere and eat a simple meal of soup, bread, and cheese. Lady Sora had declined a full meal and settled on some simple fruit, and Dryden seemed to be following her tastes as far as food, though he liked to add a bit of sugar to his. The blonde was a bit jealous of her, as any lover would be, but he knew whatever strange bond they had it was one more of affection or comradeship than attraction.
Speaking of which.
Merle burst in through the door, quickly throwing it shut behind her before any rain could blow inside. Almost immediately, Gaddes was beside her with a towel and a hot bowl of soup. She accepted them with a smile and came to sit beside Allen near his vantage point at the window, and the brunette taking his own seat across from her. Their spontaneous affection for one another was a source of amusement and bewilderment for the ex-captain, who could not figure out how or when it had started.
“The riding elk are secure and resting. I gave them food and water as you requested. Do you need anything else?” she asked, before shoving a spoonful of hot soup in her mouth.
“No. Thank you. I have already paid the innkeeper, so everything is taken care of. We leave early this evening, if the rain has stopped or not,” he said, and turned his gaze out the window.
Merle and Gaddes left him to his thoughts to talk by the warmth of the hearth.
“Is Sir Allen alright?” the hybrid asked.
Her companion shrugged and looked at the fire, watching it dance without rhythm.
“He is worried about Guilavene. The boy came to our city for help and found nothing but trouble and betrayal. Allen feels responsible and this quest is his way of making amends. If he fails, I don’t think he will ever recover,” Gaddes explained.
Merle stared at her food for a while, quiet and thoughtful. She suddenly frowned.
“Do you think we will fail?”
“No,” he replied, smirking a bit.
“Really? Why not?”
“Well, I’m no fortuneteller or even a great believer in fate and destiny, but I know Allen and I know Guilavene. They’re too damn pig-headed to fail,” he laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dilandu had dragged his captive a for a while, before he finally became bored with his torment and let the boy go so he could just follow behind. Van followed behind him reluctantly, still tired and weak, but having regained his stubbornness. The demon prince would normally have been amused, but the quickly approaching rains had put him a foul mood.
“This is that stupid bird’s doing,’ he grumbled, ‘He thinks this will stop me? Fool. Idiot. I will show him. I will make him regret this.”
Meanwhile, Van was looking for a good opportunity to smash Dilandu over the head with a rock and escape. This was difficult, because despite his captor’s distracted state he kept turning back towards him sharply as if he expected him to retort his comments and he could not pick up a large enough stone with only one arm quickly enough.
Eventually, Dilandu led him past the rockier areas and into a wooded area without decent sized rocks and he had to give up his plan. The woods were very ugly to Van, who was used to the majestic straight poled Ruao trees of Fanelia and the mysterious and elegant Silver Firenze of the Demon Forest. Here the trees werorteorter, gray, and unattractive. Clusters of the prickly conifers covered the make-shift path on either side of them, blocking out the sun and leaving the grass below them as yellow as straw for lack of light. The gray skies made them even more gloomy and the rain was not likely to help matters.
As they trekked through the woods, a familiar sound reached Van’s ears and he paused to listen.
“Is that a river?” he asked.
“Yes,” Dilandu replied and then continued on with his rant without breaking rhythm.
As they continued on, the sound grew gradually louder until it seemed to echo all around them. The drab pines gave way to more attractive trees with heart-shaped leaves and trunks colored deep red and brown with moss growing all along one side and pale green creepers hanging from their branches. The occasional sound of a lone scraw or hunter sparrow gave the place a very lonely feel, despite its beauty.
Finally, the trees faded away altogether as they found themselves a dozen paces from the ledge of a a stony cliff. A short distance away, the land continued as if there was no a giant crack running though the middle of the mountain. Terror seized Van as Dilandu continued towards the very edge of the cliff, and he feared that the demon intended for them to climb down it. But the pale boy stopped short of the edge and merely took a moment to admire the view, when he looked back towards Van he seemed surprised the mortal had lingered so far away.
“What is your problem?” the pale demon asked impatie.
.
“Nothing!” the boy snapped back, but did not come any closer.
Dilandu snorted and then continued walking along the edge and Van followed, keeping close to the trees though it was a much more inconvenient path. Indeed, the injured boy tried to keep his good arm in contact with the nearest tree as much as possible, fearing that he might somehow stumble and then roll straight off the cliff. A silly thought, for the ledge was several paces away and perfectly level, but one that frightened Van nonetheless.
The albino watched him curiously, but did not comment, keeping a steady pace towards his destination. A chill wind had picked up and he knew the rain would not be far behind.
They did not go far, when they came upon a suspension bridge. It was small, narrow, and made of thick rope and a series of boards running one after the other. It looked old and poorly maintained, but still stronVan’Van’s initial terror returned at the sight of it. Dilandu could not possibly expect him to cross that, could he?
“Come on,” the demo prince commanded, annoyed with the boy had hesitated again.
“I- I can’t.”
Dilandu paused just before stepping on to the bridge and looked back at him, annoyance written across his features. He turned his crimson eyes back to the bridge and then downward to the river, looking very small from so far below. Then he looked back at Van with disbelief.
“You can’t be serious?” the albino said, exasperated.
The dark child said nothing, but tightened his grip on the tree he was currently clinging to. Dilandu gave a heavy sigh and tried to think of what to do. Before he could think of particularly good idea, however, he felt a rain drop land on his ear. He cringed, realizing he did not have time for this foolishness. He stalked up to the frightened mortal and seized his good arm from the tree and proceeded to drag him back towards the bridge.
“Get over it,” the demon snapped.
But Van was not getting over it, and struggled wildly in his iron grasp jerking and pulling with new strength born of fear. Dilandu quickly became fed up with it, and back handed the boy harshly. The young hunter fell to the ground, dazed and barely conscious. His captive now compliant, the albino slung him over his shoulder and carried him across the bridge in a few quick paces, feeling the boy tense despite his confusion. The pale demon did nto put him down once he had crossed, however, and continued on at a hurried pace until he had finally reached his destination.
He carried Van into a cave and dumped him on a pile of leaves and pine needles that may have once served as some large animal’s bed. The youth immediately curled around himself and began to shake, but remained otherwise still. Outside, the rain began to fall and grew gradually heavier until it became like a gray curtain and neither could see more than a few vague silhouettes is the distance. Dilandu sighed in relief, glad that they had made it before getting drenched. He looked down at the dark child, ready with a sharp word of criticism, but the boy was already asleep.
“First he freaks out and then he falls asleep. What an idiot,” he thought to himself, but without conviction.
He could actually understand the sleeping part, but the acrophobia would demand an explanation. In the meantime, the demon gathered some of the dry leaves and needles from the strange debre pile and began to build a fire for the t.
t.

~~~
When Van awoke, he found himself laying on top of his cloak on the ‘nest‘, as he deemed it, and Dilandu’s cloak wrapped around him. Night must have fallen for it was very dark outside, and only the light from the campfire kept the inside of the cave from being pitch. Beside the fire, eating some bread and a raw potato, Dilandu sat with his pale features caste in bright gold. The young hunter did not make a sound, but the demon must have sensed him for he looked towards him almost immediately.
“It is about time,’ the albino said, ‘Are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Then come over here and join me.”
Van did as he was commanded, still drowsy and sore despite his sleep. Folken had not been there to greet him in his dream world, and he had found himself locked inside the room. That had never happened before, and the dark child had spent most of his time pacing and trying to regain his calm before he woke up again.
The boy sat across from Dilandu, who handed him some cheese and bread, and ate it slowly. The demon prince waited for him to finished his meal, letting the quiet of their dwelling permeate until Van would be desperate for talking, before he said anything.
“So what was it all about?”
“What?” the mortal asked, prodding the fire for a little more warmth.
“You know what,” Dilandu snapped.
Van flinched at his tone and nodded.
“I am afraid of heights. It’s nothing really. A lot of people are, you know.”
“Why?”
“Why are people afraid of heights?” the boy asked.
“No. Why are you afraid of heights?”
“Do I need a special reason?”
“Yes,” the pale demon stated.
Van paused, staring blankly at the fire, and then sighed.
“Hn. I suppose I do,’ he said, sounding tired, ‘When I was a little boy, I used to love to climb trees. I did it all the time, though is frightened my mother to death. On my eighth birthday, I wanted to do something special. So I went deep into the woods and found the tallest tree I could. I climbed and I climbed and I climbed, until I had actually climbed so high the tree began to sway. I became too frightened to move and was stuck up there.”
“So what happened? Did you finally climb down?” the albino asked, feigning disinterest.
“No, I did not. I remained in that tree for an entire day, crying and calling for help, but no one was close enough to hear me. The next day, my father finally found me after searching for me all night. He climbed the tree as far as he could, but because he was heavier than me, he couldn’t go as high. He told me to jump and promised he would catch me... so I did.”
“He dropped you?” Dilandu exclaimed, sounding horrified, which was interesting coming from him.
“Yes. And I fell all the way to the bottom, breaking several branches and my arm as I went. I guess I was lucky. I could easily have died. But I have been petrified of heights ever since.”
The pale demon snorted.
“That’s ridiculous,” he sneered.
“How the fuck is that ridiculous?” Van snapped.
“You are not afraid of demons or the Royal Guard, but you are afraid to cross a bridge. Isn’t that a bit silly? And didn’t you live on a mountain?”
“It was a hilly mountain and that’s not the same!” objected the boy.
Dilandu just chuckled and shook his head. The pale demon rose and began to remove his clothes, much to Van’s alarm.
“Take off your clothes and come to bed,” he ordered gently, pulling his shirt over his head.
The mortal did not move, but watched the albino with wide frightened eyes. Dilandu, noting his captive’s obvious panic, tried to reassure him.
“I am not going to hurt you, Van,” he said, smiling softly.
He moved closer to the boy, who tried to make a show of not flinching or retreating as he knelt down beside him. He brushed his pale fingers along Van’s cheek, carefully avoiding the bruise that had formed there. Slowly and with great care, he untied the dark child’s sling so his injured arm hung limply by his side, pul pulled his green shirt over his head. Dilandu hesitated briefly as he saw the various bruises and minor scraps that riddled the boy’s now exposed flesh. The bruises were larger than they had been that morning and must have been very painful throughout their little excursion. He touched the purple wh cur curiously, but quickly withdrew his hands when Van tensed.
“Do they hurt?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry. I will be careful,” the albino assured him.
“No,” Van protested, crawling away from him.
“You may as well get used to it now,” he said, taking the youth’s good arm to prevent him from escaping.
*Slap*
Dilandu immediately let go, shocked by the unexpected retaliation. He touched his cheek tentatively where Van had slapped him. With his broken arm. The stubborn youth himself was hunched over his arm, screaming in pain. After the initial agony had worn off, however, he was on his feet and fleeing from the cave and into the rain. The demon recovered from his surprise quickly and was bounding after his escaping prisoner.
“Dammit, Van. Why do you have toe eve everything so damn difficult?” Dilandu growled, and reluctantly end thd the storm.
Van did not get far, before his pursuer caught up to him. It was dark as pitch, rocky and unfamiliar ground, and he was injured and without a shirt or cloak on in the middle of a downpour. Nevertheless, when Dilandu wrapped his arms around the mortal, the youth fought him like an animal, kicking and scratching and screaming. But the demon was too strong for him, and easily carried him back to the cave and tossed him onto the ‘nest‘. Van immediately clamofor for the farthest wall, pressing himself against it and glowering darkly.
“Mind telling me, what the hell is your problem?” the demon seethed, shaking droplets of cold water from his hair and body.
“What did you expect? That I would just spread my legs for you and say ‘dive right in‘? I am not Folken’s whore and I most certainly am not yours either!” Van snapped back.
Dilandu felt the sudden urge to beat the boy senseless and prove him wrong, but he restrained himself. The stubborn youth had a point. Compliance had never been Van’s forte, and he had no reason to expect it. There was also the matter that he already looked thoroughly beaten and had yet to learn a damn thing from it. In addition to the previous bruises, the youth now sported a couple more from their recent struggle and his skin quivered from cold over his lithe frame. Dilandu sighed.
“You are such a pain.”
“Huh?”
“If you were anybody else, you would be screaming my name in ecstasy right about now, you know that?”
“Huh?”
“Is that all you can say? I’m here offering you a night of the most exquisite pleasure you will likely ever know, and you act like I’m going to bite off your testicles or something.”
“Don’t do me any favors,” Van said flatly, his expression annoyed.
Dilandu smirked.
“You know I like you, don’t you?”
“What are you talking about? You hate me!”
“Yes. I hate you, but I like you more. Which I suppose is your gift. You can make people like you, even if there isn’t a damn reason why they should,” the albino said, amused.
Van sent him a look that said ‘you are crazy‘. Dilandu sighed, still smiling to himself.
“Lets make a deal…”
“You’re starting to sound like your brother…”
The demon ignored that.
“If you let me kiss you, I promise not to... take advantage?” he offered.
“If I refuse?” Van tested.
“Then I drag you out from there and ravage you until you enjoy it. And don’t think you won’t, I’ve done this enough times to know better,” the albino replied confidently.
The dark child grimaced. He really did not have any options, even if he did not trust his captor. He crawled towards the pale boy, who waited patiently on the little nest, until he was right beside him. Dilandu did not hesitate, taking Van’s face into his hands he lead their lips to one another in their first kiss. It was chaste enough at first, their lips barely touching, but the demon grew bolder. It did not take long for him to send his tongue into Van’s mouth, provoking his partner to respond in kind. The young hunter fought all his instincts to respond to the kiss, afraid to encourage his captor into taking more than their bargained allowed for. It ended abruptly with Dilandu pulling back first, leaving them both flush and panting.
“Now take off your clothes and come to bed,” the albino ordered, smirking.
“You said-”
“Our clothes are wet. We can’t sleep in them, and unless you want sleep on the stone floor, we are going to have to share a bed. You don’t need to be afraid. It will be just like that night during the last storm.”
Van frowned.
“You will keep your word?”
“I will.”
And he did. For the most part anyway. Van made himself as comfortable as possible with Dilandu’s warm body pressed against his back and his pale arm slipping over his side to rest beside his chest and hold him firmly. There was a brief moment, when the pale boy broke their agreement, and began kissing his neck and shoulders, but he quicklyppedpped when he felt his partner tense. Then Dilandu rested his face beside Van’s hair, nuzzling the dark strands affectionately before settling down for the night.
After that, the demon prince did not move again until morning and even appeared to have fallen asleep, though Van could never be sure. Van himself did not fall back asleep for a long time, his body tense and his mind filled with paid tid thoughts as he lay completely vulnerable in the arms of an enemy.
The youth was under no illusions that Dilandu was now his friend, even if he did supposedly like him. The pale boy, like Folken, were trying to subvert him and he could never allow himself to be knowingly controlled.
The situation did, however, give him a lot to think about.

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Folken soared above the thundering black clouds, admiring his clear view of the stars and the angry, flashing maelstrom below him. Lizuza had made the storm more vit tht than he needed, but it would serve its purpose. Beneath the blanket of clouds lay the border mountains between Austoria and Freid, which his kind referred to as the Mehamayee mountain range. Van and Dilandu were somewhere with in. They would not be able to leave with out Nazuco, and the fire spirit could no more appear in the rain than she could in sunlight.
Now all Folken had to do fin find them. Easier said than done, since a mountain range was a good plto hto hide. However, the winged demon was confidant in his abilities to hunt them down. He was very familiar with both of their energy signatures, which would eventually give them away when he got close enough. He just needed to be
patient.
He would win this game yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merle took the lead that night. Though the rain had stopped and the sky was clear, it was dark on the road and many obstacles could not be seen. At least not by humans. The hybrid girl had the advantage of superior night vision and had been given the task of riding ahead with a torch and showing the way for the others. Dryden had to ride with Allen so she could handle her elk more easily. Not that the merchant minded, or even Allen for that matter.
They rode through the entire night, stopping only once to rest their mounts and then continuing on at a grueling pace. The thundering of their hooves could be heard for miles and those nearby arose from their beds and went their windows, listening to the frightening sound in the distance. A few even saw the strange riders, hidden beneath dark cloaks and silent as the dead while their mounts heaved and huffed erratically.
“Who are they?” asked one little girl of her father and mother.
“They are bandits,” whispered the mother fearfully.
“No,’ gravely said the father, ‘They are knights.”
“And where are they going?” the little giueriueried.
“On a quest, dear child. On a quest.”

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Dilandu did not sleep that night. As a demon, he had no real need to do so for another three days. Instead, he lay awake and memorized the feeling of Van’s frail form laying in his arms. Though the boy had been tense and resistant to his touch in the beginning, he had rolled over at some point in the night and was now curled up against his captor’s chest, his broken arm cradled between them and their legs entangled with one another. The mortal’s soft breathing was steady and soothing to the normally anxious and irate demon. He found the thought of Van trusting him that much, even on a subconscious level, both amusing and touching.
The young hunter stirred, and Dilandu had to force himself from tensing. He did not want this quiet moment to end yet. He could not remember feeling this relaxed in a long time and the first words out of Van’s mouth were likely to piss him off and ruin it. But the mortal just snuggled closer, burying his nose into Dilandu’s shoulder and pressing closer for more warmth, as the fire had died long ago and the only comfort came from their shared body heat.
The pale boy let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding, and tightened his hold around the sleeping youth’s shoulders just a little. Dilandu had had plenty of bed partners, even a few he considered his lovers, but they had all been demons. He had heard of others who had a taste for humans, but at the time he had thought it rather distasteful and saw no reason behind the preference. Now however, he thought he understood. Demons are by nature, distrustful creatures and usually very controlling of those feelings that could be perceived as a weakness, like affection or fear. Even sex, despite its popularity among the demon races, was as a somewhat dangerous activity and most partners went into it with a certain level of caution and reserve. Humans, however, were such open creatures. They could be so easily read, whether they
are angry or happy, afraid or disgusted. There was something incredibly appealing and refreshing about that expressiveness.
Van was very expressive, even by human standards. He never lied, not with words or gestures, and any attempts to conceal his feelings had been feeble and unpracticed. The anger and distrust he felt towards Dilandu had been very real, but so had their strange friendship and the feeling of guilt the boy had experienced at nearly killing the albino. That was comforting in a way he could not describe. All his previous partners had appeared to have enjoyed his attentions, but after a night of Van’s obviously reluctant submission he was uncertain of their honesty in the matter and wondered if they had simply pretended to enjoy it out of fear or for personal gain. It was a disturbing thought, but he felt wiser for the insight.
Dilandu’s sleeping partner shifted again slightly, drawing the demon prince from his thoughts. Van moved again, this time shoving the albino onto his back and then rolling over on top of him. Half on top of him actually. The dark child’s head lay on Dilandu’s shoulder and their hips were pressed together as the boy’s right leg rested between the demon’s legs. The mischievous creature smirked to himself and silently hoped Van was having another of his wet dreams. He was in such a wonderful position to enjoy it as much as Van.
However, the boy slipped back into slumber again, his relaxation causing both of their sexes to pressed between them. Dilandu stopped smirking. He was stuck with a dilemma now. If he followed through with his first inclination, which involved relieving his growing erection with the help of Van’s body, then he would be breaking his promise. However, if he left the boy as he was, his own situation was going to become painful ratquicquickly.
Dilandu sighed. His quiet moment had come to an end. He nudged the sleeping boy gently, murmuring for him to wake up. Van grumbled something inarticulate, but did not get up. The albino’s smirk returned, and he rolled his hips against the drowsy youth. The young hunter tensed almost immediately, and a moment later sprung back onto his knees as if he had been laying in the middle of their campfire.
Van looked down at his naked captor, his expression one of surprise and infinite embarrassment. Dilandu just laid there, still partially between Van’s knees, and smugly looked the boy over while he stretched out on their little nest and made no attempt to hide his obvious erection. Van turned another shade redder as he realized their position, and tried to remember what could have led to it.
“I seem to have a bit of a problem,’ Dilandu said casually, looking down at himself, ‘I don’t suppose I could convince you to fix it?”
The look Van shot him told him that was a definite ‘no‘. The boy quickly got to his feet, wrapping the cloak they had been using as a blanket tightly around himself, and searched for his clothes and trying to look everywhere except towards the nest. This would have been much easier if his arm were not fractured and his embarrassment had not made him so clumsy. He had floundered a bit ungracefully trying to get his shirt on. Behind him, he heard Dilandu giggling at his obvious discomfort, but he ignored him.
It seemed the gentler, more patient Dilandu of last night had gone and left the typical bastard of the everyday. Despite his humiliation, he was glad for it. He would sooner face Dilandu’s arrogance and heartlessness than a repeat of last night and that morning. For one thing, it gave him incentive to escape faster. For another, the demon boy had good chance of breaking through his defenses the same way Folken was.
Thund und of Dilandu’s quickening breath made him glance at the demon briefly. What he saw sent him red all over gain.
“W-what are you d-doing?” Van stammered.
The demon prince smirked at him, but did not cease his ministrations on his manhood.
“Oh come now. I know for a fact that humans do this too.”
“Not in front of other people!”
“Want to bet?”
Van glared briefly at him and then quickly turned away to stare at the entrance of the cave. It was still raining heavily, but a dull gray morning light managed to seep into their shelter. He kept his eyes glued to the entrance and tried to focus on the rain, and let the sounds of Dilandu’s moans as he pleasured himself be drowned out by the steady tapping of the rain against the ground. Finally, the sound stopped.
“Are you done yet?” he asked impatiently.
“Yes, Sir Prude, I am finished,” Dilandu replied arrogantly.
Van glanced back and immediately regretted it. While, yes, the demon was finished masturbating, he was now in the process of cleaning his semen from his hands with his tongue. He immediately turned back to the cave entrance, but not before noticing that Dilandu’s semen was an opaque black compared to his own pearly white seed. He felt his cheeks burn at this observation.
Van kept his eyes glued to the entrance, until finally Dilandu came up to him and began securing and fastening his clothing that he had not been able to handle with only one hand. The young hunter tensed considerably, but the demon was all business now that he was dressed himself. His captor gave him some light breakfast in silence, taking nothing for himself, and stared patiently as he waited for him to finish.
“There’s no helping it,” he said finally.
“Hm?”
“The rain is not going to stop any time soon. We will just have to keep going as is.”
Van almost protested. Not only was hiking around mountains in the middle of heavy rains not fun, it was also extremely dangerous. Flash floods and mud slides were a constant danger, and having seen a few back in Fanelia he did wish to tempt fate with them. However, he was more afraid of what would happen if he remained alone with Dilandu while he was in a ‘playful’ mood, than the slight possibility of drowning in a river of mud.
Heaving a mental sigh, he lifted his hood over his head and tightened his cloak around himself as best he could. Seeing his captive was ready, Dilandu did likewise and led him into the pouring rain.