Prelude to Night

To those who have been enjoying my frequent updates, I regret to inform you that I expect them to slow down within the next couple of days. I just acquired a part-time job and school is starting up in less than two weeks. I have to go buy books, get a doctor’s appointment, go through the twenty hour job training, etc. Life is catching up with me.

Also, there is a serious time error in the third chapter. I mentioned that Faustivult had been working his last day at the smithy, yet he’d really only been working their for two days. O.o Woops. It’s accurate, I suppose. The phrasing is just…exaggerated?

Usmorgan: Again, thank you for your kind words. Lucky for you, Kieon’s purpose thus far makes much more sense in this chapter than it did in the previous one. ;P

Curiosity101: Thanks! I dunno if this is weird but…I did too when I wrote it. ^^;

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As Honey watched Fyren make off with Daralis, she cursed under breath. Taking out the improved amulet, she tossed it over her neck, feeling the effects as she became invisible to the rest of the world. That done, Honey flopped down under the tree and waited for them to come back. She had no doubt that Fyren would do whatever it took to save the dying half-Fay’s life.

Moments after she sat down, a flash of blue lit up the sky on the other side of the mountains. It’s the temple, she realized, something has awakened Asutiri. Beneath her robes, Honey slipped on the ring that had been passed down through the females of her family for generations and shuddered at the feeling of the Goddess’s nearness. There wasn’t much time.

A few minutes passed as Honey’s eyes kept trained to the glow. As she felt Asutiri’s presence, she knew the Goddess was advising another mortal of the coming danger.

“But who could have gotten there before me?” she said to herself. As she continued to muse on this, Honey almost missed Fyren’s arrival into their resting spot.

Taking the amulet of, she rushed over to his side and gently grabbed the sleeping Fay’s arm. Reciting the spell once more, Honey smiled as she felt the healing magic tend to Daralis’s wounds. While she wasn’t an expert Healer, she knew enough to mend the worst part of the bite. Catching Fyren’s eye, she silently let him know that Daralis was going to be fine.

Visibly relieved, the Daemon clung tighter to the body in his arms and looked up questioningly at the glowing blue sky.

“It happened shortly after you left,” Honey said, “It’s Asutiri. We need to get to the temple as quickly as possible.”

Understanding the severity of the situation, Fyren crouched down and ordered, “Get up on my back and hold on tight.” After Honey was safely seated, Fyren stood and raced towards the temple. It wasn’t long before they noticed the light fade and a horrible screech hung through the air.

Clutching tighter to the Daemon, Honey prayed to Asutiri that a horrible fate wasn’t waiting for them at the end of the path.

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Prince Ravinger had stopped rowing as he noticed that the far off sky was glowing blue. Odd, he thought, it’s coming from the direction of Blodtacan. His partner, Luelle, gasped and tugged on Ravinger’s cloak.

“Your Highness, the water!”

Turning to look at her, Ravinger saw that the lake was starting to glow as well. Luelle’s gray eyes were wide with fear as she started to panic.

“It’s the Goddess. She’s close.”

Ravinger raised an eyebrow before going to row again. Noticing this, Luelle leaned forward and grabbed onto the oar, “No! A part of Asutiri is in the lake. You mustn’t disturb the water.”

Miffed, he replied, “Then how will we get to the city of Laminui?”

Luelle let go of the oar. “We wait until she has passed.”

Sighing, Ravinger looked out towards the unnatural blue sky once more. If the Gods had decided to meddle in mortal affairs, it could only mean one thing: the delicate balance of the Aeden races was about to fall.

And after we’ve only just recovered from the Great Purge, he thought bitterly, the Gods are cruel beings indeed.

The two Humans suddenly straightened in their seats as a strange and haunting melody filled the air around them. As the song grew louder, the water off to the left of the boat began to move upwards and spiraled into a sphere. From outside the sphere, Ravinger could see that on the inside, the blue glow of the lake was joined by a radiant golden shine. As the melody came to a climax, the gold shine broke through the sphere and what emerged was a white beast. Standing atop the water, it looked over as if acknowledging their presence then sets it gaze upon the blue glow in the sky. The beast opened it’s mouth, a new melody arising from it‘s howl, then jumped into the night sky and flew towards the glow.

Both shocked by what they had witnessed, Luelle could only nod her assent as the glow from both the lake and the sky faded and the two travelers continued towards the market city.

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Fyren sniffed the air around them as the temple came into sight and wrinkled his nose. Honey gave an “oof” as the sudden stop jolted her from her precarious position on Fyren’s back.

“Put the amulet on and stay quiet. There are other Daemons nearby.”

“What?” Honey said, “How is this possible? We should have been the only ones to-” Realizing what she was about to say, she silenced herself and put the amulet on obediently. Satisfied, the Daemon approached the small field Asutiri’s Temple had been built in.

It’s been a while since I’ve visited this place, he mused as he surveyed the area, a lot of the trees look different.

Coming up to the stairs leading to the temple’s entrance, Fyren’s sharp Daemon eyes picked up on the weak traps guarding the door. Shifting Daralis, the Daemon brought his claws out and slashed his way through them. Smirking, Fyren strode over to the doors and pushed them open with his shoulder. Once the door had swung shut, he crouched down and let Honey off.

“There were about ten Daemons out in the woods surrounding this place, but none of them are in here. I expect they’ll attack us once we leave this place. For now, though, you should be safe.”

Honey took the amulet off and watched as Fyren carried Daralis through the halls. Noticing that she was being left behind, Honey jogged after him.

“Why do you care whether or not I’m safe?”

Fyren didn’t answer, but shifted Daralis in his arms once more. She glanced at the sleeping half-Fay and smiled in understanding.

He cares because Daralis cares.

While this didn’t shock her, Honey was surprised to learn that the Daemon seemed to know his way around the temple. Walking happily next to him, she looked up and asked, “Did you visit this temple often?”

“This temple and every other temple, castle, and general place of importance in Blodtacan.”

“You were that important?”

“My father was,” Fyren said in a clipped manner that signaled it to be the end of the conversation. He stopped outside a large pair of doors and once again used his shoulder to open them. Before them stood the statue of Asutiri, carved from blue granite in her likeness. There’s something missing though, Fyren thought idly as they entered further into the room. Honey was not so calm about it though. She rushed towards the statue and fell to her knees, staring at the Goddess’s hand.

“It’s gone,” she wailed and pulled on her hair in distress. “The staff is gone.”

“If by gone you mean ‘right here in my hands’, then yes. It’s gone.”

Fyren spun around as the one of the doors slammed shut and an unfamiliar Daemon came walking out from behind it, blocking the exit. The Daemon twirled the staff in his hand and said pleasantly, “I’ve been waiting for you to show up ever since the temple started glowing.”

“You,” Honey growled, “you were the one Asutiri shared her visions with.”

Surprised, Kieon stopped twirling the staff and looked behind Fyren at the Boiijan woman from the vision.

“How did you-?”

“Asutiri came to me in a dream,” she bit out angrily. “She told me that it was my duty to come to this temple and seek out the staff, for the future of Aeden. The blue light from before indicated her presence in this world.”

Laughing, Kieon waved it above his hand and said, “Well, you’ve sought the staff out and found it. Now what?” When Honey failed to answer, Kieon shifted his attention back to the Daemon carrying the Fay and, just like in his vision, the Daemon glared at him as his hold on the Fay became more possessive.

“I’m curious,” he admitted, “about what a Thirsty Daemon could possibly want with a Fay.” He took a step forward, causing Fyren to growl territorially. Chuckling, Kieon continued, “If you’re willing to enlighten me, I’d more than gladly hand the staff over to you.”

The Boiijan looked imploringly towards Fyren. The fate of Aeden could very well be hanging in the balance with the Daemon’s answer.

Meanwhile, Fyren’s glare had hardened. How could this wretched whelp even think to begin to understand his feelings for Daralis? Deciding on the appropriate answer, he announced confidently, “Because it’s Daralis.”

Kieon was silent as he processed this before laughing hysterically. After calming down and wiping the tears from his eyes, he walked over to the Boiijan woman and handed her the staff. Still clutching his sides, he managed to get out, “Then Daralis is a very lucky Fay.”

Straightening, he smiled and said, “I am Kieon of Cliewen and, per Asutiri’s instruction, your…” He paused here and a confused expression ran across his face as he tried to find the right word. Kieon smiled as he found one. “Ally. I am now your ally.” Bowing, he said, “You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t travel with you, however. There are things I must attend to in Blodtacan. I can tell you, though, that your next step is to travel to Valrok’s Temple in the country of Tarille. You must stop the Daemon you find there.”

Silence filled the main room of the temple as the traveling pair soaked this in. Slipping the ring onto her finger, Honey knew that what the Daemon said was true and felt comforted in the knowledge. Then Fyren became distracted as he felt Daralis stir in his arms. Looking down at the awakened Fay, the Daemon smiled gently.

“Did you sleep well in my arms, my Daralis?”

The Fay nodded before completely coming to and, realizing what had been said, punched Fyren in the face, much like he had Faustivult earlier that evening. Refusing to let go of Daralis, the two of them fell backwards on to the temple floor, Daralis sprawled out on top of the stunned Daemon. As Daralis picked himself up, he felt Fyren harden against his thigh. This caused him to blush and punch the Daemon in the face once more.

“Damn pervert!”

Kieon blinked as he watched the exchange with stunned amusement. Honey merely giggled and bowed towards the Daemon attendant.

“Thank you so much for all that you’ve done. I hope we’ll be able to help you in the future.”

Daralis looked over as Honey spoke and, noticing the other Daemon there, scrambled to get up. Fyren had other ideas, though, as he tugged on the collar of Daralis’s robes, causing him to fall back on top of the aroused Daemon. Daralis paled as he felt Fyren’s mouth at his neck and tried to punch him again. Instead, his fist met Fyren’s waiting hand and the Daemon intertwined their fingers, sucking harder on the Fay’s pale neck.

“I almost lost you,” he murmured into Daralis ear before nipping at the shell.

Feeling his body responding to Fyren’s attentions, Daralis tried even harder to get up.

“Alright, that’s enough you two.”

“What are you talking about? Don’t mind us!” Kieon exclaimed as he covered Honey’s mouth. “Just pretend we‘re not here!”

Fyren flushed. He had forgotten the two of them had an audience. Reluctantly, he let Daralis go and watched as the Fay stood up as fast as he could and created space between him and the Thirsty Daemon. He watched protectively as the waitress introduced Daralis to the new Daemon. The two shook hands and Fyren frowned at the contact before noticing that Kieon’s grip seemed to linger…

A little possessive for a man whose affections are unrequited, the pessimistic voice hissed. No, Fyren replied as he watched the exchange continue between the three of them, I’m possessive for a man whose affections will one day be returned. Only in your dreams, the pessimistic voice quipped back.

“Do you dream of me, of our encounter in the rain? I do. And, oh, what a dream it is.”

The Daemon’s cock leapt at the memory of that night, remembering how aroused he’d been just at the sound of the Fay’s voice. How I had finally come at his touch, he thought and his cock began to throb with arousal.

Realizing the problem wasn’t going to go away anytime soon, Fyren snuck out of the room and walked through the halls until he found the room he was looking for. Opening it, the Daemon was struck by how much hadn’t changed inside the temple. The room was still very much as he remembered it, with large throw pillows of different shades of blue covering almost every inch of the room. While the room’s true purpose was for meditation, it was also perfect for Fyren’s current needs.

Besides, I am going to be clearing my thoughts, he justified, just thoughts of a different nature.

Choosing a corner near the door, Fyren sat down and relaxed his back against a pile of pillows, reaching for his half-erect member and stroking it to fullness. Bringing images of the Fay to the forefront, he groaned and thrusted up into his hand. He imagined Daralis straddling him, his hands replacing his own, and he would stroke up and down, up and down. The Fay would be slow and light about it, teasing him. He would bend over and trail light kisses down across his chest, making sure his breath would ghost over the Daemon’s nipples as his hand would steadily become firmer around his erection. Daralis would lick almost kitten-like over his hardening nubs and simultaneously stroke his thumb against the head of his erection. Meanwhile, his other hand would be busy teasing the other nipple into hardness. Fyren moaned as the Phantom Daralis moved lower and kissed the Daemon’s stomach, fucking his bellybutton with his tongue and his hand would be moving faster, faster as the Fay would move lower and lick around his thighs before foregoing subtlety and taking the Daemon’s erection into his mouth. It would be like having warm, moist velvet wrapped around his cock and the Fay would graze his teeth lightly before sucking the Daemon into oblivion and catching his cum with his mouth.

At the thought of Daralis looking up at him wantonly with swollen lips and Fyren’s cum dripping down his chin, Fyren raised his hips, yelling as his essence covered his stomach and a few of the surrounding pillows.

It’s too bad, the pessimistic voice piped in, that this fantasy will remain just that: a fantasy.

Fyren ignored it and basked in the feelings of the afterglow, thoughts of Daralis still running through his head.