The Demon's Curse

The mid-morning rays of the sun shone brightly on the island coast Valerin was taking refuge on. He stood waist deep in the ocean, his long hair blowing freely in the wind. He was without clothes and he watched a few small fish swim around his legs. He then closed his eyes and submerged his entire body in the cool ocean water. He then opened his eyes and began swimming for all water elves had the ability to see underwater. Because of his type, he could also stay underwater for longer than most creatures. He thought of Dante swimming beside him and smiled. Pretty soon Dante would be making his way to the surface for air. Dante was no part water elf after all. He was, in fact, part fire elf. That alone would make Valerin and Dante incompatible but because of Dante's demon blood, they were able to become quite close. 

Valerin broke the surface and sent droplets of water flying in every direction. He snapped his head back to get his hair out of his face and an arc made out of water followed his golden tresses back. He wiped excess water away from his eyes then allowed a hand to wander to his crotch. He fondled it for a moment then smiled. What he held in his hand was another reason why he could not be the goddess in the story. In fact, he could barely get his hand around it when he was properly excited. He glanced at the beach where his clothes lay and squeezed himself. He would see if he was strong enough to excite himself, he decided as he began walking towards the shore. He needed to make sure he was loose enough for Dante's arrival. It had been, after all, over three years since they had last slept together.

Valerin spread out the towel he had brought then lay down on it. He closed his eyes as he thought about Dante and the fun times they had together. He pictured Dante making love to him and stroked himself even harder. He writhed in excitement as his fantasy grew more explicit. He could almost feel Dante's steaming breath on his groin then imagined the action he would get once Dante had placed his mouth over it.

His emotions went into over-drive at that vision and he began gasping for air as he felt himself getting hard. He moaned loudly as he tugged on himself. He knew that he was almost ready to let go and he struggled to force himself to wait a little longer. He cried out in excitement then removed his hand and gazed at the liquid that covered it. He brought his hand to his mouth, licked it clean then sighed. Dante's tasted so much better.

Valerin gazed up into the sky for a moment then sat up. He picked up his clothes and put them on. He didn't want to be exposed to the harsh rays of the sun for too long. It was ironic, he noted, that he loved the water yet because of the sun, he could not enjoy the water in the extreme parts of the day. He knelt down in the sun then bowed his head so that his face was protected. He stayed in that position until he was sure that his hair was dry. He stood up and picked up his belongings then began brushing his hair as he walked back to the cottage.

"Are you done swimming already?" Rem asked and Valerin looked up. 

The two girls stood there with towels draped across their shoulders. Rem looked slightly disappointed and Valerin smiled.

"It was getting too warm for me," he replied. "But I will sit and watch you two if you like. I'll sit underneath that tree near the end of the beach."

"We're lucky to have you, Lord Valerin. It's not every day that we get a handsome man watching over us," Shalira said as she took his hand.

"Well I suppose it's the least I can do since you've had to put up with me this long."

"We didn't mind doing it," Rem said as she took his other hand. "How are you going to survive without my cooking?"

"I don't know. You go on ahead. I'll stay back here where there's less sun," Valerin said and watched the girls run on ahead. He sat in the shade of the tree and thought of Rhys. He hoped that it was still standing as he leaned against the trunk of the tree. It was only a matter of time before he was reunited with Dante and the demon's evil was ended. He hoped, no prayed that his reunion with Dante would come swiftly. He wondered where Senra's party currently was as he closed his eyes to savor the cool breeze that blew across his face despite the increasing temperature of the sun.

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"Okay, let's say the story is true," Seiya said as he threw a rock into the ocean. They had ridden into a seaport late the previous night and because the entire party was exhausted, they had housed the horses and went straight for the nearest inn. Now that they had been properly rested, they were searching for one of Lord Valerin's ships.  Senra looked about at the ships moored in the harbor and frowned. He didn't didn't recognize any of them. Seiya poked him and Senra looked at him.

"So that story that you were talking about, let's say it's true," Seiya repeated and Senra nodded his head.

"Okay," Senra agreed. "What do you want to know?"

"What about Iloria? How does that play into all this?"

"Well the god of the stars grew angry at the loss of one of his daughters so he created a sword that would have the power to slay the demon. He intended to give it to the living treaty but the demon, for fear of his life, hid the sword."

"So how would Dante know the location of the sword?"

"I don't," Dante replied. "Besides, all of that is probably exaggerated to make the story sound better."

"Whatever the case may be, there have been actual accounts of the sword," Senra said.

"So how come it's still missing?" Seiya asked.

"Because it is on an island surrounded by a lake of fire, or so the stories say. Ah, there's the ship I was looking for. Come on, everyone. That's one of the ships that sails for my lord."

"Something about it doesn't look right," Dante said and Senra looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Senra asked and Dante shook his head.

"Never mind. I was probably imagining it."

Senra shrugged his shoulders and continued walking. Dante followed the others in silence as he watched the crew on deck. There was something about them that didn't seem right...His eyes narrowed at the sight of coarse black hair. Those were definitely not water elves which meant that something had gone wrong on the ship's previous journey. They were obviously being expected and Dante grabbed Seiya's arm.

"What do you want?" Seiya demanded and Dante pointed to the deck of the ship they were heading for.

"Look," he commanded and Seiya looked.

"Dark elves. What are they doing on the ship?"

"I don't know but we'd better keep our guard up. I just hope Valerin's not in trouble. If he is, then there's absolutely nothing that will hold me back."

"I don't think we should act like we've recognized them. They might attack sooner."

"That's a valid point but once we leave the harbor, we'll be at their mercy. I don't think the two of us can overtake them."

"We'll check out their numbers once we get on the ship."

"What are you talking about?" Chelet asked and Seiya looked at her.

"We're talking about stuff you wouldn't like," Seiya replied.

"What sort of stuff?" 

"Combat stuff. Why? Is that something you're interested in?"

"No."

"All right then."

"Boy you're starting to sound like Senra."

"What kind of an insult is that?!"

"I heard that. I do have feelings, you know," Senra said and Seiya looked at him.

"Senra, it's been awhile," a water elf said as he ran up to Senra. "I need to speak to you alone."

"What about, Wake? Can we not discuss it in front of my companions?" Senra inquired.

"There's a problem with my ship. You can't use it."

"We saw the problem," Seiya said and Wake looked at him.

"How did it happen?" Dante asked.

"They boarded during the night. When morning came, I was completely surrounded."

"We didn't see any elves last night," Senra said and Seiya folded his arms.

"We were exhausted last night," he replied.

"So what are we going to do? We need that ship," Senra said and Dante folded his arms.

"Apparently they're fully aware of that which is why they are on board. It looks like the only thing we can do is fight them. You can fight, can't you Wake?"

"Of course I can. I live on the sea, after all. Now they didn't board here during the night, they boarded where I was docked last. I'm not stupid, though. I'm not going to fight when the tide is obviously against me," Wake said and looked at Senra.

"I wasn't going to say anything," Senra said.

"You looked like you were."

"Well we need to come up with an attack. Why did they let you off the ship?" Dante asked and Wake looked embarrassed.

"They didn't let me off, I jumped," he replied.

"That makes sense. Water elves can out swim all other elf types."

"Especially the fire type," Seiya said.

"But the water types can't handle the heat. That's why you have wear special clothing when you go out to sea and even though you're still limited as far as the temperature is concerned."

"Someone's memory has definitely returned. A few days ago, we would have had to explain the difference to you," Seiya said.

"Dante knows quite a lot about fire elves. He's partially one, after all," Senra said and Seiya looked at Dante.

"Can you control fire?" he asked.

"Not as far as I know," Dante replied then looked confused. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well if you had an ability, we could use it against the dark elves."

"I don't have an ability so we're going to have to just attack. The three of us should be plenty. The ship isn't that big so there can't be that many of them on board."

"There's about fifteen of them," Wake said and Dante folded his arms.

"Five for each of us," he said.

"All right! I finally get to have an actual fight," Seiya said as he touched his weapon.

"Let's go take my ship back," Wake said and Dante glanced back at Senra and Chelet.

"You two stay here until it's safe," he said and Senra took his sister's hand.

"Gladly," he replied then watched them walk off. It was much safer on shore.