Le Jeune Guilavene

Chapter 24:

“The rain stopped,” Merle stated, her expression crnedrned.
“It had to stop eventually,” Dryden said, having returned to riding with her so his lover could concentrate better.
Allen and his party, with the help of their new tracker Amano, had found the Southern path the gypsy girl had mentioned and had been following it for some time. By the time they reached the peak of the first little mountain, just after sunset, their guide pointed out something interesting in the rapidly fading light.
“The rain has washed most of it away, but you can see that someone collapsed or fell here. And over there there are three sets of tracks leading into the forest. One of them scouted ahead and then came back for the other, I believe,” the young man exned.ned.
“Why would they go there?” Balgus asked, mind instantly suspicious of a trap.
“Shelter most likely. There is a cave on the other side of a small canyon down that way. If we follow the path we are on it will take us there too, but that way is more direct, though not suited for large pack animals.”
Allen grinned.
“If that is true, than we are closing in faster than I anticipated. I recommend that everyone be alert and have your weapons ready from now on. We don’t know what Dilandul dol do when he realizes we are following him. Merle, do you smell anything?”
The hybrid sniffed the air briefly, but shook her head.
“The rain has washed away their scent already,” she said.
“Alright, Amano, what do you recommend now?” the prince asked.
The guide’s reply was quick, so the answer must have been obvious to him.
“We will have to continue on the same path we are taking. Trying to go down that way is dangerous, especially after a heavy rain. Besides, this road has the only decent crossing if you want to keep your riding elk with you. It all leads back to the same place anyway.”
“Lead the way then.”
They continued on a steady trot, just enough speed to go quickly, but not so fast that they lost any sign of their query or rushed head long into a trap. They were not far along, however, when Merle pulled up along side Allen.
“I smell something, your Highness,” she said simply.
It was enough. The entire party reigned their riding elk to a quick halt. They all sat in tense silence as Merle rose to stand on her elk’s back, Dryden holding her steady by her hips, so she could catch the scent better. She sniffed delicately for a moment. Then she lifted her flexible black ears and let them twist this way and that. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked towards the sidethe the road, squinting in the growing dimness.
“It’s Dilandu... He’s alone though. Van’s not with him,” she said slowly.
The demi-demon tensed suddenly and then dropped quickly back into her saddle, surprising everyone.
“He’s moving away fast. He knows we are here,” she declared, and kicked her mount to give chase.
“Merle!” Allen exclaimed and quickly gave chase after her, followed shortly by the rest of his party.
They quickly overtook her, her animal burden by two people instead of one after all, but by then they had all caught sight of the fleeing demon as well. Dilandu’s pale ethereal features stood out in the darkness as clearly as any torch would.
Now it was Balgus’ turn to show his stuff. Quickly, he had signaled his men with a few basic hand signals, and they scattered to their assigned locations, quickly surrounding the pale demon. Allen took hold of Merle’s reigns and pulled her back, allowing the demon hunters to do their job without interference. She huffed indignantly, and jumped from her animal, giving chase on foot. Dryden shared an exasperated look with his lover, and they both trotted their mounts after her.
Meanwhile, Dilandu was having a hell of a time trying to break through the ring of hunters surrounding him. They were quick and organized, and he himself was not up to his full strength so soon after his long standing imprisonment. A hunter closed in suddenly on him, but Dilandu reacted quickly by evading his lasso and leaping on to his moving target, ready to sink his hand through the man’s chest. It was a trick. Just as he evaded the first lasso, a second one found its way around his neck and jerked him from the man to the forest floor, dragging him several paces. The struggling demon managed to slice the the suffocating rope from his neck and rolled to a stop, gasping for air. A second later, he found himself pinned to the ground by a heavy knee pressed against his back, crushing him into the muddy soil.
“Argh! Get off me, you fat bastard!” Dilandu snarled at Lord Balgus, who merely smirked back.
The rest of the hunters, including Allen, Dryden, ect., gathered round the small demon, some of them securing his limbs while the others stood poised with weapons ready. With his arms secured behind his back with steel cuffs and his legs bound together, Dilandu was thrown upright against a tree by Balgus, who was quick to start the interrogation.
“Where is Van Guilavene?”
“Fuck if I know!” the pale demon snapped.
“We know you ham, Dm, Dilandu. What did you do with him? Is he alright? Did you hurt him?!” demanded Merle.
“That fool doesn’t need me to hurt him, he does it fine on his own. The little psycho. Either way, he’s gone! I don’t have him anymore, so let me the fuck up!” he snarled, struggling against his metal bonds.
“You’re lying! I can smell him all over you! What did you do to him?” the demi-demon demanded, her clawed hand striking out to wrap around the pale demon’s throat.
“I DO NOT HAVE HIM ANYMORE! DOES IT LOOK LIKE I’M CARRYING HIM AROUND IN MY POCKET?”
Dryden quickly pulled Merle off of their prisoner before she did something she would regret later, and turned his own question to the irate demon.
“What happened, Dilandu?” he asked.
The albino chuckled cruelly to himself.
“And why should I tell you that?” he crooned.
“Because if you don’t I will snap your neck and leave you here,” Lord Balgus said, perfectly honest.
Dilandu glowered at him, but did not challenge the point.
“I repeat. What happened, Dilandu?” the merchant asked again.
“He’s gone. The Strategos has him now.”
A murmur ran through the party, along with a sense of failure on their part.
“When? When was he taken?” Allen demanded.
A wicked grin crossed the pale boy’s face.
“You just missed him. Just a little past sunset. Not that it matters.”
“We may still have time then,’ the prince said, mostly to himself, ‘Lady Sora, can you tell me which way they are heading?”
The beautiful young woman who had been lingering in the back ground nodded to him and closed her eyes. After a moment a slight frown marred her features and she opened her eyes.
“It’s very strange,” she said quietly.
“What is?” Allen encouraged.
“They are heading towards Palas.”
A groan ran through most of Balgus’ men as as as Gaddes and Merle.
“You mean we have to go back from where we started? This is ridiculous,” Gaddes moaned.
“Wait a minute. Why would the Strategos go to Palas? His kingdom is directly west of here. You don’t think he’s going after Chid do you?” Allen asked.
“Hm. More like Queen Eries. Who knows wkind of of deals she has struck with him?” Dryden sneered.
“If that is case, we need to get back as quickly as possible,” Balgus said.
“Fools!’ hissed Dilandu, ‘You\'ll never reach them in time. It took you two days to catch up with me, and I was delayed by the rain and Van, that damn peasant. Folken will have finished his business and be gone by sunset tomorrow, at the latest.”
The demon’s words felt like knives to their already crippled spirits, slashing to pieces their hope for a happy ending. However, hope presented itself from an unlikely source. Amano, watching with great interest from the sidelines, suddenly coughed to catch to their attention. They all turned to him expectantly, a bit confused by his want of attention.
“You could always take the ferry at Magorne,” he suggested timidly.
“What?” about half the party asked in unison.
“Ah, the ferry... at Magorne. It’s a little ways North from the village, along the river Badur. The ferry there leaves at around dawn and reaches Yetari around noon, and from there it’s only a short ride to Palas. It\'s not cheap, but its alot faster than traveling the roads. Of course, it’s only a suggestion.”
At that he trailed off and looked suddenly interested in the bark of a tree.
“Amano, if you were blonde I would kiss you!” Dryden exclaimed.
“Huh?” asked the befuddled youth.
Allen coughed into his hand to draw attention away from that comment.
“Alright, now that that is settled, what do we do about... Shit!”
They all turned back to where Dilandu had been just a moment before to find the spot vacant of everything but the demon’s restraints. Off in the distance, they could make out the snapping of twigs and the demon’s slightly disturbing laughter as he made his escape.
“How the hell did that happen?” Allen demanded.
Merle trotted over and picked up one of Dilandu’s wrist manacles, noting that it was not broken or anything and still locked shut. The ankle cuffs, however, were broken and mangled.
“I would have to say Dilandu is a demon with great strength and extraordinarily thin wrists,” she concluded.
Balgus was looking rather sheepish, which was quite a feat for someone of his size. Allen sighed in frustration, and thought for a moment.
“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. Balgus, I want you and your hunters to go after Dilandu. Try to capture him alive if you can, but if you can’t you have may use deadly force. The rest of us will go back to Palas, though I’m going to have to ask to borrow Lady Sora from you. If that is alright with her?”
The wom woman nodded her consent, as did Balgus.
“Come back to Palas when you are done. Shall we get on with it then?” Allen finished, and remounted his riding elk.
Everyone quickly took their designated mounts and split themselves accordingly, riding off in separate directions so that. A moment later it was if they had never crossed by that little spot in the forest at all.

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Folken watched Van closely, checking for any sign that he was going to return to consciousness soon. The boy did not stir from his position on the couch, likely too exhausted to awaken yet. Looking at him, it would have been obvious to anyone that the stubborn fugitive had had a very rough couple of days. He was extremely filthy for one thing, covered in sweat, dirt, and his own blood. His body was racked with injury to the point where there was not a inch of skin found that did not have a bruise or cut of some sort. His arm would have still been broken, if the pale demon had not felt enough pity to mend it once they had reached their shelter.
Their shelter was in fact an abandoned mansion a short distance away from the Royal Palace. Nariya and Eriya had done well in finding it, as it was close enough to the palace to make convening with the Queen convenient and it was large enough to give Folken the much needed space away from his good servants to attend to Van’s needs. One of said needs being a good bath in the mansion’s bathing pool.
The bathing pool was as its name implied a small pool of white marble set in the ground meant for communal bathing. Along the sides of the pool were a series of nozzles, which after some investigation on the demon’s part, that would pour out hot or cold water. After a series of trials and errors, Folken had managed to figure it out well enough and felt slightly impressed with the human engineer who thought of the device.
While the pool was now slowly filling it self at an excruciatingly slow rate, the winged demon had taken the opportunity to strip both himself and Van of their clothing. Now the young man lay completely naked, stretched out along a comfortable little couch a short distance from the bath, and Folken sat along the pool’s edge with only a towel wrapped around his waist, his feet resting in the slowly rising water. Their clothes had been taken away by Eriya, the Strategos’ to be cleaned and Van\'s to be burned. The only items of any interest left in the room was a small stack of bathing supplies and, oddly enough, the Guilavene family sword resting a short distance from the winged demon.
Should the stubborn youth attempt to fight him again, as was likely the case, that sword would be his only weapon as both of them were trapped in that large w roo room together. The large stone doors of the bathing room were locked securely from the outside with Nariya guarding them and waiting impatiently for the signal from her master to unlock them. There were only two setswindwindows set high above the floor, one on the eastern wall and another on the western wall, allowing the sun to brighten the chamber, but preventing even the most determined peeping Tom (or escaping prisoner) from reaching them.
Apart of Folken knew he should not risk staying in the human city with Van, and that a lot of his past failures in apprehending his slippery prey had been because he had underestimated him. However, a larger part of him enjoyed tempting fate. For what ever reason, hunting his little one down was almost as much fun as catching him.
A slight movement and a soft moan drew the Strategos’ attention back to the couch, and he realized Van was waking up. It looked like rather painful process for the boy, for he cringed and whined at even the slightest movement. Curious, Folken abandoned his spot by the pool and came to kneel beside the dark child. He smiled gently as dark brown eyes opened slowly to regard him sleepily.
“Welcome back, boy. Did you enjoy your nap?” the albino asked pleasantly. “AAAaaahhhhh!!!!”
Van was on his feet in an instant, and collapsed on the floor just as quickly. He yelped in pain as his legs gave out beneath him, the cramps in his legs so intense he could barely move them. Nevertheless, he managed to struggle to his feet and limp to the door. He jerked the handle with all his remaining strength, but even if it had not been locked, the boy would probably not have been able to open it as weak as he was. His legs gave out a second time and he collapsed by the door, panting and sweating again. His dark eyes turned cautiously towards his new captor, who had yet to make any move to hinder him. Folken sat quietly where he had left him, a slightly amused look on his face.
“Are you quite done?” the demon asked.
Van glowered at him darkly, but did not reply.
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’.”
The Strategos stood and walked over to him casually in only his towel. It was the first realization Van had that he himself was completely naked, and he immediately tried to cover himself as the demon drew closer.
“Oh, there’s no need for that now. I’ve seen everything already,” the pale man teased, stopping a short distance from the youth huddled on the floor, and held out the boy’s sword to him.
Van eyed the sword with mixed surprise and suspicion. He reached up hesitantly to take it, but as he did so, Folken drew it a further from his reach.
“Don’t be so hasty, boy. You’ll get it back when we get home, but for now I am holding it hostage.”
“Hostage?” the young hunter asked quietly, the first word he has spoken that morning.
The demon smiled, knowing he had his complete attention now.
“Yes, hostage. As in, if you do not heed my instructions, I will destroy your father’s precious sword and laugh maniacally while doing so.”
“You wouldn’t dare?!”
Folken gave him look that dared him to ask that again. The boy tensed visibly, and he stared longingly at the beloved weapon.
“What do you want, you bastard?” Van snarled.
“For you to watch your language for one thing. And to take a bath for another,” the demon said idly, stepping away from him and towards the bath, taking the sword with him.
At his comment, Van looked down at himself and for once he had to agree with the man. He really needed to bathe. He sighed and rested against the heavy wooden doors, trying to gather his thoughts. It did not work, but it gave him enough time to notice that the room they were in did not look in anyway similar to the rooms of the Strategos’ castle. Indeed, it looked sort of like a spa or bath housee hee he had seen in some of his mother’s illustrated books of foreign palaces..
“Where are we?” he asked.
“Palas,’ Folken answered readily, removing his towel and tossing it somewhere dry as he waded into the pool, ‘In some rich person’s home, though they appear to have abandoned it for the time being. Nothing you need to worry about.”
Van surprised himself by not blushing at the man’s sudden nudity, devoid of even his ebony wings. He knew quite well that Folken was leading him into a seduction, but his past experiences in the dreamscape still lingered and he felt very little personal discomfort. His own nudity made him uneasy, not because he was exposed to the albino’s viewing (as Folken had pointed out already, they had seen each other naked plenty of times), but because he was now completely vulnerable in a way he had not been in his dreams.
“Why are we here?”
“Because you need a bath.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Van snapped impatiently.
Folken smiled back at him from pool. There was the impetuous and slightly temperamental boy he loved so.
“Come here and I will tell you,” the demon offered.
Van just sent him a nasty look.
“You’re going to join me in this bath one way or another. You may as well do it while the water is still warm.”
The boy hissed, and remained defiantly curled up against the door. Folken frowned slightly and took hold of the Guilavene sword from the side of the pool. He took it by its handle and raised it over his head.
“What are you doing?” Van asked quickly, his nervousness obvious.
“This entire room is made of marble. If I bring this sword down hard enough, it will shatter,” he stated coldly.
“No! Wait, dammit, I’m coming!”
The Strategos paused in his movement, watching the youth struggle painfully to his feet and lurch forward gracelessly towards the bath. The sight caused both heartache and admiration in the demon. Van was such a proud creature, normally graceful and strong and a pleasure to watch, but damaged as he was at the moment his appeal now lay solely in his spirited attempt to continue functioning.
At the water’s edge, the stubborn youth, already angry and to the point where he had almost nothing to loose, found yet another foolhardy and defiant act. Instead of climbing into the bath along the steps, he jumped the arrogant demon in attempt to retrieve the ‘hostage‘. Folken was so surprised by the move that Van actually managed to drag them both under water. However, the demon recovered quickly, pulling from the mortal’s grip to break the surface, the sword still in hand. He tossed the weapon across the room and used both free hands to grab hold of the still struggling mortal.
The Strategos jerked the boy to the surface and twisted him around so that his back now lay pressed against the demon’s chest, and the mortals rapid kicking thrashing hit nothing but water. Van fought Folken’s hold for a long time, squirming and twisting about until even he was confused about what he was doing. The only thing he achieved, however, was exhausting himself and allowing his captor to pull him into an extremely intimate hold against his body.
As the fight slowly left the boy, Folken’s gentle laughed beside his ear could be heard. Van felt a mixture of annoyance and relief that the demon was more amused than angered. Though he knew the attempt was clumsy at best, it would have made him feel better if the demon had felt provoked enough to be at least annoyed. Instead, the man was laughing at his expense, hugging his smaller figure against his warm body.
“What’s so damn funny?” Van growled, the only thing he had enough strength left to do.
“You always make me feel young, Van,’ the demon laughed into his ear, ‘I wish I had had a friend like you when I was a boy. I would have been so much happier.”
“What are you talking about?!”
Folken’s laughter faded into a smile, and he nuzzled Van’s neck affectionately, planting occasional kisses on the dark skin.
“I really do love you, boy,” he crooned.
“What are you talking about?! I trying to fucking kill you!”
“Mm. It doesn’t matter.”
With that said, Folken chuckled and released his captive, moving to the other side of the pool while Van scrambled away.
“Don’t leave the pool,’ the Strategos commanded, causing the boy to halt, ‘You are injured and your struggling in only making it worse. Just relax and enjoy yourself.”
In response, the boy sat down with a huff, the water rising just over his shoulders as he sat upon some underwater bench. As he did so, he crossed his arms and then swiftly uncrossed them, looking down at his once useless appendage.
“You fixed my arm,” he stated, confused.
“Mm.”
Folken did not elaborate, as it seemed like a perfectly logical thing to do. Instead, he set about bathing himself, taking some soap from the pile of supplies near the edge of the pool. Normally, he enjoyed washing. He found the process relaxing, but at the moment he was looking forward tending to Van more than himself. His thoughts thus focused on the boy, it did not take him long to realize the object of his thoughts was still looking at him with the adorably perplexed expression.
“What?” the albino asked.
“Why did you fix my arm?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Look what happened last time you fixed one of my injuries. I got away,” he pointed out.
“Van, I would never leave you like that.”
Van pointed to a small scar on his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.
“Oh yeah?”
Folken smirked.
“It was just a little love bite.”
“You bastard, I was in a coma for two days!” Van snapped.
“Well, it wasn’t as if I could get to you to heal you in the first place, now was it?” the demon countered, continuing his bathing ritual.
“You could have not come after me in the first place!”
“And then where would our friendship be?”
“What friendship? I am trying to kill you! I hate you, remember? I hate you!” Van screamed vehemently.
Folken smiled at his words, not his amused smile or even his admonishing smirk, but a secretive and knowing smile. The dark child tensed as the man turned and slowly made his way towards him. The pale demon drew close, his face hovering just above the boy’s as he looked down into his wide brown eyes.
“I know you hate me, and right now that is all you think you feel. But I also know that there is a part of you that likes me too, perhaps even loves me, and responds to what I have to say. No, don’t deny it. I have seen it, remember? That night, when I came to you after Zongi’s death, we shared something then. Call it compassion or loneliness or even just tolerance, but for that night we shared something honest and untainted by hate or fear. It was something beautiful. I know if you let it, we could achieve that again.”
Van turned away, trying to escape the intensity of his crimson eyes and
the uneasiness of his proximity.
“You are wrong,’ he said easily, ‘You killed my father, and imprisoned my mother. You have attacked me and those around me in an attempt to control me, and you are still doing it even now. Whatever you think you feel for me, it isn’t love. You don’t respect me enough to love me.”
“Is that what you think?”
Van said nothing, keeping his gaze averted. Folken’s strong hands suddenly took hold of him and pulled him close to the other man’s pale body and held him close. The mortal gasped in surprise, a blush quickly making its way to his cheeks as their sexes pressed against one another. The demon tilted his head upwards so their eyes met.
“Foolish boy, you have no understanding of demon behavior, do you?” the Strategos asked.
The pale man then leaned in to take his captive’s mouth in an aggressive kiss. Van struggled in his grasp, surprised despite its commonality when dealing with Folken. Even more surprising was he soon felt himself beginning to respond, his sex hardening against the demon’s. His captor did not cease his attack on his mouth, not even to tease him for his body’s response. Instead, he increased its intensity, his agile tongue slipping into Van’s mouth to memorize it all over again. The young hunter bit down on the offending appendage, but Folken merely purred in satisfaction.
Folken’s hands, which had broamroaming the expanse of Van’s chest and back, settled against the left side of his body along his ribs, causing the boy to flinch slightly. His largest bruise was there, after all. A second later he gasped and then shuddered an intense sensation ripped through his body and left him completely limp, but conscious, in the Strategos’ strong arms. For a moment, Van thought he had just experienced an orgasm, but then Folken’s hand moved to cut on his shoulder and the sensation returned. He spasmed briefly and then relaxed again, his head falling back to stare blankly at the ceiling.
“Oh gods, what are you doing to me?” he asked, his voice quivering.
“Healing you,’ Folken said simply, moving his hand to the bruise on Van’s face and repeating the procedure.
Pleasure bordering on pain rippled through him for the third time, and he struggled to stay conscious. He must have blacked out momentarily for when he opened his eyes, Folken had made himself comfortable on one of the underwater benches with own head resting in the demon’s lap, partially submerged, and his body floating in the warm water.
“What was that?” the dazed mortal asked.
“It is the same technique I used to heal your stab wound. However, because your injuries are less severe, I require less energy so it is not nearly as painful,’ he explained, ‘In fact, you seemed to be enjoying yourself immensely.”
“If I could feel my body I would so slap you.”
Folken chuckled, affectionately brushing aside a few strands of dark hair from his little one’s face.
“Hm. Yes, I’m sure you would, but since you can’t, just enjoy it,” he said, and kissed him lightly on the forehead.
Another wave of energy ran through him, and all went dark.

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