Abyss

Chapter 6: Trois siècles

At the next opportunity, Pheus told his father of his plan of training individually with Ayve. Oh, he could tell that his father’s suspicion rose again, but he had included that in his calculations. The undertaking would be risky. They needed to expect his father to turn up at any time to check on them. However, his father was not almighty. Pheus could sense him, so all he needed to do is stay vigilant.

One evening, they sat together with the others. There was an ever changing crowd of people in the cave; Ayve had no idea how many truly lived in the mountains. He was just watching a group of women who in turn were discussing the stock of men at hand. It was strange how different their attitude towards sexuality was. Ayve never looked at anyone the way they looked at men, judging them by their attractiveness, the seize of their muscles, the form of their bottoms, or their estimations of how big their members were. Moreover, Ayve could not imagine switching lovers as often as seemed to be common between them. Even mutual children did not seem to guarantee a serious relationship.

Ayve glanced over to Pheus. He sat only a few feet away. Of course he had noticed Pheus disappear with one woman or the other a few times before the two of them had taken up their relationship again. Since then, however, Pheus seemed to have stopped. He reacted to flirting attempts here and there, justifying his behaviour by explaining that not showing any interest in women at all would attract attention, but Ayve never saw him alone with one. What would he do if he found out that Pheus had lovers beside him? Would he mind? Pheus had not promised him anything.

A small girl suddenly pulled at his sleeve. “Mom says you are to cut down some meat for us,” she handed him a plate. Baffled, Ayve took it, filled it with roasted wild pig, and gave it back to her. He had never been approached by a child before. Interacting with a child that was not your own was absolutely off-limits amongst nymphs. The girl laughed at his befuddled facial expression and ran off towards the fire around which the other children sat.

A hand settled on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Pheus sit down next to him.

“That’s Ley,” he murmured. “She’s your half-sister.”

Ayve goggled at him in wonder.

“I guess that is her mother’s way of establishing contact with you. Your ‘father’” – he pronounced that word with a good portion of disgust in his voice – “assumedly forbade the rest of his offspring to communicate with you. Only that he’s away for a few days.”

“The rest of his offspring?” Ayve asked surprised.

“Two sons, one daughter, all in all. Don’t even bother with the boys. He keeps them under a strong reign. He leaves Ley to her mother, however. Ama has a mind of her own; I guess she’ll aid you if you want to get to know your sister.”

Ayve looked puzzled at Pheus. He would not have expected Pheus to support him like that.

“You want to, right?”

“Of course I want to! I…” Ayve looked down on his hands, unable to word the reason for his wish to get to know his sister.

“I know,” Pheus murmured understandingly. Their eyes locked. “I can try to arrange meetings if you want me to.”

They sat in silence for a while, eating some more of the meat. Ayve’s gaze drifted through the room and finally settled on the fire of the nymphs. “How did they get here, anyway?” he asked Pheus.

“Most of them are fugitives. They arrived a while ago, saying their tribe had been attacked. See the one that looks over to us?”

Ayve made a high clicking noise.

“That’s my mother. I’ve been raised by her in the traditional nymph way until the time when it would have been common to stop being carried around by her all the time. That was when my father separated us. We’re not allowed any contact since, because father fears that would soften me.” Pheus said that as if it meant nothing to him. His mother, on the other hand, carried sadness in her eyes.

Indeed, Pheus enabled Ayve to meet his sister every now and again. They also managed to keep up their hidden relationship. With Pheus’ help Ayve’s life was actually quite enjoyable. Of course, there lay tensions in the air, but with Pheus to talk with and some more people being nice to him, Ayve could easily cope with them.

What strained Ayve was the constant hiding. There were so many incidents when he wanted to touch Pheus, wanted to kiss him or just rest in his arms and could not because others were around. In addition, Pheus’ mood depended extremely on how his father treated him. As long as the training went smoothly (in other words as long as Pheus’ father did not berate him; praise hardly ever rose out of his mouth), Pheus’ mood was okay. He was never the happy-go-lucky type, but he was balanced. When the training was catastrophic, on the other hand, as it was at times, Pheus could completely lose the ground beneath his feet. Ayve tried to support him as good as he could, but whatever he did, there was a dynamic between the two men he could not fight against.

Ayve’s father did not change his hostile attitude. Their ways hardly ever crossed, but the few times they did, he bluntly ignored his eldest son. Ayve learned that he was tasked to defend the settlement and that was the reason why he was away so often; he was watching nearby human settlements and intercepting humans who strayed too close to their cave. Naturally, he did not do this on his own but with a large group of people.

Once, Ayve witnessed how his ‘father’ came back from scouting and reported his findings to the leader (his father’s father). They had crossed the path of a group of hunters. In the subsequent fight, one of his father’s companions had been deadly wounded. The scolding he had to suffer was beyond anything Ayve had ever heard or seen. Ayve knew his grandfather was a man that was not easily pleased. He distributed harsh words much more often than praise and his tongue was very sharp so that his words cut deep. It had taken ages before his grandfather had even started to speak to him directly instead of talking of him to Pheus as if he was not in the room. Yet, all the little nasty comments he presented Pheus and him with were nothing in comparison to the bashing he exposed his second eldest son to. If looks had been able to kill, Ayve would have dropped dead that night when his ‘father’ stormed past him.

“Your hands are so delicate,” Pheus whispered. He held Ayve’s left hand in his right and moved his thumb admiringly over the long, thin, pale fingers.

Ayve smiled and snuggled up closer to Pheus’ chest. A light kiss landed on his forehead. He enjoyed the warmth that emanated from his lover. He looked up into his face that so often bore the marks of distress but was relaxed, peaceful, at this moment. Ayve loved to be able to give Pheus these moments, these isles of forgetfulness, of feeling loved and understood. Pheus was no man of big words, but there was a silent understanding between them that they shared similar feelings, that they carried similar burdens. There was a bond between them that lacked any rational explanation. It simply felt good to be together.

In the colder months of the year, they regularly withdrew into a small cave they had found for their ‘training’. A small fire that was shielded by a wall of stones from outside looks warmed them.

“I’m wondering why Rekr has stopped bothering me with his talks about children,” Pheus said, transporting a chunk of wood into the fire with his mental power. “It’s been a while since last someone has tried to seduce me.”

They had shared the suspicion that Pheus’ father was literally ordering women to throw themselves at Pheus. Every few days a female that was highly ‘traded’ amongst their fellow males would turn up somewhere and start flirting wildly with Pheus. They had even discussed whether Pheus should give in to one or two of them. Some could not hide their thoughts and they plainly showed the women felt obliged to do what they did. There was more than disappointment in them when Pheus brushed them off. In fact, it had been Ayve who had grudgingly proposed to do what Pheus’ father seemed to want. Pheus had dismissed that idea. “The thought of entering one of them is disgusting,” he declared stubbornly. It need not be said that Ayve had been relieved.

“Do you think he knows?” Ayve asked worriedly.

Pheus smirked. “If he did, I guess he would have thrown you out already – and I don’t want to imagine what he would have done to me.”

Ayve led his hand over Pheus’ leather covered chest and buried his nose in the black depths of his lover’s hair.

“Someone’s approaching,” Pheus said suddenly and pushed Ayve gently off his lap.

“Okay. Shall we try the lifting again?” Ayve switched to training mode immediately.

Pheus agreed.

Ayve crawled to the middle of the free space in the cave and lay down there. Pheus closed his eyes, breathed through to find concentration despite the fact that his father would turn up any moment and effortlessly lifted Ayve up. He held him a few feet above ground for a while and then let him sink down smoothly again.

Ayve got up and they repeated the exercise with him standing which took already more concentration. Ayve had no need to train these things. Pheus had had to grudgingly admit to himself that the nymph’s talent in this field was much bigger than his own.

The thing that was most fun – those times he managed it – was the wood stack. They piled up the chunks of wood they had stored in the centre of the cave and then went as far away from it as possible to push with their power against it. Ayve easily managed to shove the stack in one piece against the cave wall as if they had built it there. Pheus usually only managed to make the stack collapse or – in rare cases – make the wood shoot through the cave. His mind was not strong enough to move the whole stack; he only managed to move single chunks which resulted in the described chaos. Ayve always suggested doing something easy first to give Pheus the feeling that he was not completely incapable. That often prevented Pheus from throwing one of his fits. They were never directed at Ayve, but the bitterness Pheus directed at himself hurt him more than a few insults would have.

Pheus’ father entered the cave right after their second attempt. Ayve went to rebuild the stack whilst Pheus greeted him. “Rekr.”

His father looked about. “I see you advance,” he stated monotonously.

“Yes.”

Pheus’ father watched Ayve. “That is not the reason why I’ve come here, however. It is time for you to gain more practical experience; I have decided to send you on scouting missions.”

“Both of us?” Pheus asked.

His father laughed amusedly. “Don’t be ridiculous. I am not going to send anybody to his certain death. He is too weak.”

Pheus’ new duties forced the two to cut down on their private meetings. Half of the time, Pheus was away. When Pheus was ‘at home’, his father urged him to train more under his supervision.

Ayve smiled and rose from the rock he sat on when Pheus came into view. “Finally!” It was their first meeting in ages, or so it felt.

Even Pheus could not hide his happiness. He sprinted forward and pulled Ayve into a hungry kiss. His eyes gleamed with excitement when he broke off the kiss and gazed at his lover. Lovingly his fingertips moved over Ayve’s delicate face. “Your idea to communicate via thoughts was genius. I’m so stupid not to have thought of that earlier.”

“Well,” Ayve tried to fend off the praise, “it was a bit risky – I was not sure I could send you a message and shield my thoughts off at the same time.”

Pheus brushed over Ayve’s hair. “Yet you managed.” Closing his eyes, he bent forward and caressed Ayve’s lips lightly with his own. Their tongues played with each other tenderly, making their knees weak. “Let’s sit down,” Pheus whispered with his husky voice. He had grown into an impressive man over the years.

To avoid any unwelcome visitors, they had agreed to meet at a place far from the lair of their people. Ayve had prepared a fire, and Pheus had brought something to eat. From his participation in the scouting, Pheus knew where the guards rarely went. The place they had selected for their meeting was so remote and hard to reach that nobody saw any necessity to check on it.

They made love to each other gently. Pheus loved the way Ayve completely gave himself up, how his lover yearned for his touch and moaned quietly in delight.

Afterwards, Ayve rested peacefully in his arms. “I’ve missed you. They are so dull, so mindless.” Pheus spoke of his scouting ‘comrades’. “They neither know how to work out a good strategy for a fight, nor can they hold a smart conversation. Father is right in trying to implement harder training and more discipline; still I doubt that will help much.”

Ayve played with one of Pheus’ nipples. “I don’t think what’s missing is discipline. I mean, look at yourself. Did your strict training teach you what you wanted to learn? I don’t mean to say it’s useless, but there is more to success than that. Personally, I think what we lack is something like a positive motivation. I mean, okay the men and women know we are in danger and need to fight it off. Still, do they really know what they are fighting for? Everything seems so dull. Our life consists of nothing but training, scouting, eating, sleeping. There is no happiness. We hide in dark caves, the food is always similar, the time for the family is limited, and everywhere envy spreads, because the only goal left seems to be to be held in high esteem by your father - an almost impossible thing.”

For a while, Pheus said nothing. Eventually, he admitted, “Perhaps you’re right.” He sighed disheartened. He felt warm arms wrap themselves around him and let himself go for once.

“I’ve developed a new sport,” he said after a while.

“A new sport?”

Pheus grinned mischievously. “I sneak up to the human settlements and make them do stupid things.”

Ayve frowned. “Pardon? How do you do that?”

“It’s something Rekr told me about. We couldn’t practise it because most of our kind are not susceptible to mind influencing, but when I tried it the first time on a human who passed us by without even taking notice of us, it worked at once.”

Ayve looked up at him. “I still don’t understand. What exactly are you doing with them?”

Pheus played with Ayve’s hair and looked contemplatively into the distance. “It’s easy, somehow. I just think of them doing something, send that thought out into their direction, like the telekinetic power, and they do what I have thought of.”

Ayve raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. “And what do you think of?”

Pheus smirked ambiguously and kept the answer to himself.

With time, the human settlements spread and moved closer to their lair. The violent encounters of scouts with humans increased.

The tension in the air worsened Pheus’ demeanour. Their time together was cut shorter and shorter because he was on duty more often.

A group of a dozen people, Pheus amongst them, came back from a mission. Two of them had rods sticking out of their bodies. Someone had heralded the arrival of wounded people already, so a group of medically experienced individuals, including Ayve, stood ready at the entrance. Amongst the entire muddle, Ayve suddenly heard a voice in his head. This morning at the stream junction. When he turned around, Pheus had already disappeared in the cave.

Pheus seized Ayve’s shoulder, pulled him around, and pushed him against the tree behind him, capturing his mouth. He pulled off the many layers of clothes hastily, glad that Ayve had stopped wearing the bandages as undergarment that had always slowed down the process. Full of hunger for Ayve’s touch, he sucked and bit on his lover’s neck and quickly prepared him before he pushed inside.

Ayve moaned loudly.

Their bodies colliding, Pheus pricked deeper and deeper into the man that melted in his embrace. The breath caught in his throat and came out as a low growl. Pheus came within moments.

He pulled out and went to the stream to clean himself. The patrols had been increased; it was much more likely to encounter one of their kind in the wilderness these days – they needed to be extra careful. He turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” Ayve asked surprised.

“Back to the cave. If I stay away for too long, it will only attract attention, now that I’m in a high position amongst the guards,” Pheus answered. After a moment of contemplation, he added, “Perhaps it’s better for us not to meet at all for a while. Father seems to be suspicious, and I am distracted by the thoughts of when I will be able to see you again. It’s better that we stop seeing each other in private for a time.” He made to leave.

Ayve jumped up. “No,” he exclaimed determinedly.

Pheus halted in his tracks, surprised that Ayve spoke up against him so vehemently. Usually his lover went along with whatever he suggested.

“I don’t want this to end,” Ayve stated. “And I know you don’t either.” He stepped up to Pheus, naked as he was, and embraced him. Pheus made to push him away, but Ayve held on to him. He seized Pheus’ hand, placed it between his but cheeks, where they were still wet from their little adventure, and kissed his lover. Tell me you don’t want me!

Ayve was pushed onto the floor, a hand seizing his member and rubbing it, Pheus’ mouth swallowing his face. Within moments he felt his lover pumping into him mercilessly once more. The dark, rough voice told him that Pheus came hard.

Pheus bent over him, panting, supporting himself with his arms that rested beside Ayve on the floor. “Of course I want you,” he murmured. “Wait for me. Wait until the situation has cleared up.” He withdrew and hurried away out of sight, further down the river to wash once more before Ayve managed to hold him back again.

Oh, wait he did. However, there was no indication that the situation was going to clear up soon. Ayve waited, tried to arrange himself with the others, and waited.

Ayve sat in a faraway corner of the main cave, carving. Ley sat next to him. That was the only positive thing that could be won out of all the chaos that closed in on them. Most of the adults were on patrolling duty, and their ‘father’ was away so often that they could spend a lot of time with each other. Yet, Ayve’s little sister was hardly a sufficient replacement for his lover. For what felt like ages he had been forced to long for him from a distance, now. They hardly exchanged a word these days.

Right now, the only people in the cave apart from them were minors and a group of nymphs. The present lover of Ayve’s genitor was amongst them, pregnant with his child. The rest of their clan was either sleeping, hunting, or patrolling.

All of a sudden, a babble of voices could be heard from the tunnels. Ayve got up to find out what was the cause for the sudden movement. People were hurrying towards the exit; commands were shouted.

“What’s going on?” he asked a woman who ran past him and that he distantly recognised as a cousin.

“A patrol has seen a large group of armed humans march into our direction,” she called out to him, not stopping in her steps.

“You and your kin need to take care of the children,” a voice Ayve immediately recognised as his grandfather’s (the leader’s) said behind him.

Ayve turned around and saw the older man fix his leather clothing.

“Bring them all into the main cave and make sure they stay there. No one is to walk about, especially not outside.”

Ayve did as he was told. About a dozen men and women stayed behind with him as last reserve, together with about sixty children. Ayve volunteered to stand guard at the entrance to their lair. The other men were patrolling in the tunnels. Most of the females were young mothers; they were most useful if they remained with the offspring.

He had taken up his post early in the evening. Short before sunrise, he asked someone else to fill in for him, went to eat a little and drink some water, and then he returned to his task. Ayve let his mind strive into the distance in an attempt to see what was going on. He could sense a large number of people, but was unable to make out any details.

As if to deride the severity of their current situation, the sun rose with a bright, warm light. It eased the chill in Ayve’s bones. They were superior, were they not? They could not be harmed by the humans, could they? Surely Pheus knew what he was doing!?

A few birds danced in the sunlight on the rocks below, gathering a few seeds the wind had carried there and catching insects. On eyelevel, a hawk was just catching a titmouse. Further down, the woods spread over the land, the sun making them shine in the brightest tones of green. Everything looked so peaceful, and yet Ayve knew that appearances were deceiving.

Around midday, light steps resounded behind Ayve. He turned around and saw Ley come up to him. She carried water.

“I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for you to be here,” Ayve said.

Ley merely smiled and handed him the drink. Ayve accepted it and said nothing when she sat down next to him, blinking into the sunlight, watching how the skin on her arm became lighter. “So it’s true. Mummy’s told me that our skin turns as light as yours when we’re out at daytime, but I could not imagine how.”

Ayve smiled. “I don’t know how that works either. I was scared when I first saw how your people’s skin turns dark in the absence of light. It’s a good camouflage, though. Perhaps it has been of help last night.” He looked into the distance once more.

“Do you know what’s happening?” the girl asked.

Ayve gave off a low clicking noise. From the contact with the other nymphs, Ley knew what that meant.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, Ley watching the world at daytime in fascination, Ayve trying to find out what was going on in the distance.

Suddenly, in the late afternoon, Ayve registered movement amongst the trees. He immediately ordered Ley to lie down, so they would not be seen. He could sense how the girl grew nervous as he pointed towards the place where people could be seen. As far as Ayve knew, they were not of his kind. Had they been, they would not have trampled through the undergrowth like that. He waited another moment, until he was certain; then he sent Ley to go and fetch the others.

The first humans stepped out of the cover of the trees. As they filed out, Ayve grew alarmed. There were dozens, at least a hundred people – and some of them carried strange devices, long poles connected by short sticks. Ayve did not know about ladders because his kinds could climb rocks and trees without aids of this kind, but he had an idea what they were made for. They would enable the attackers to enter their caves.

They drew closer, walking steadily upwards. Many of them carried the weapons of which he had already been warned – curved pieces of wood on which strings were fixed that helped to shoot of pointed rods. If he and his helpers had had something like that, they might have been able to stall the attackers; yet the way the situation presented itself right now, they stood no chance.

The first pointed rods flew into Ayve’s direction – they had seen him. The few adults who had stayed behind with him came running. He told them to stay away lest they were shot. Ayve deflected the attack easily with his mental power. Perhaps that was the only solution – using his special abilities to their advantage. However, he could hardly just push them away. That would not hold them off permanently.

What had Pheus said about influencing human minds? Inside of him, something revolted against the idea that formed in his head, yet Ayve had no choice. It was either them or the people he knew and cared for. They were the attackers; it was their own fault, was it not?

Ayve gathered all the aggression he managed to build up against them and sent it down into the first rows of the humans. With horror, he saw how they turned to attack their own kin. The smell of blood filled the air, the dark red tingeing the rock face. Intrigued by the strange noises, the smell and the lack of flying wood, the men and women crept up next to Ayve and watched in morbid fascination, filled with relief and disgust, what was happening below.

When most attackers lay slain, they jumped down to take care of the rest. Some had fled already.

They hastened back. The fight had gone well with only few losses, yet in the middle of it, Pheus’ father had seen the picture of the entrance to their lair in the mind of someone he was just ripping apart and had realised the danger the people that had remained there were in. When they reached the mountain, they could merely see the last hitched breaths of those who lay there dying. Not a single one of their kind was amongst the bodies. What was more, their injuries had not been made by claws but by their own weapons.

“What has taken place here?” the leader demanded to know.

“We don’t know, Rekr,” one of the females said timidly. “They started killing each other…”

“It was Ayve,” a small but determined voice said from above. Ley stood in the cave entrance. “I’ve seen it.”

Pheus climbed up to her. “Where is he?” he asked under his breath. Ley sent a picture into his mind.

Pheus found him far down, in an abandoned tunnel. Ayve crouched on the floor, his hair enveloping him like a curtain that shielded him from the outside world. Somewhere deep inside, Pheus knew it was partly his fault that Ayve was so isolated at times. Their split-up must have alienated him. He was just too sensitive.

Pheus knelt down behind Ayve and wrapped him in his arms. Wide-eyed, Ayve looked up at him. He blushed, but he looked as if he was distracted by something else as well. Pheus saw pictures of red streams flash up in Ayve’s mind. He tightened his embrace. “You have saved people’s lives. You have made sure Ley is not harmed. Their brutality is not your fault,” he tried to convince Ayve.

Ayve trembled in shock. Goodness, Pheus did not understand him – and yet, he felt inconceivably attracted to him. Before he knew what he was doing, his lips were pressed on Ayve’s and his tongue darted into the warm depth of Ayve’s mouth. Ayve whimpered into the kiss and clutched at him desperately. He pulled Pheus down to the floor so that the strong man rested heavily on his body.

Pheus removed their clothing, and they rolled about on the floor, eager for each other’s touch, kissing wildly. All the tension that had built up inside during the fight fell off him; all Pheus could think of was being united with Ayve again, feeling him, smelling him, tasting him. He extended his claws and made a small scratch on Ayve’s shoulder. Ayve brushed through Pheus’ hair lovingly while the man tasted his blood. His breath sped up. Drinking each other’s blood was an old ritual amongst Pheus’ people that bound two people together. It was irreversible; it meant that Pheus cared for him as much as Ayve felt for Pheus.

Pheus entered him. He directed him at will; all that counted for Ayve was to be with him. He had forgotten what had happened a short while ago. Should the world end as long as he as was with Pheus.

They lay for ages together – Pheus resting on Ayve, Ayve’s arms and legs wrapped tightly around his lover. Ayve silently shed tears of relief, happiness, and confusion.

A small hand on his upper arm woke Ayve. He opened his eyes, filled with momentary dread. He clung desperately to Pheus’ sleeping form.

Ley crouched beside him. Smilingly, she signalled him that everything was alright. “Rekr wishes to see you. I have brought water so you can wash yourself and herbs that you can burn to disguise the scent on you.”

Ayve looked at her perplexedly. He knew he should do what she said, little that she was, yet he did not want this moment to end; he did not want to leave Pheus’ arms. Slowly, he pulled himself out from under the heavy body.

Pheus awoke. In awe he stared at the small girl. Ley handed him water. He went on staring at her disbelievingly.

Ayve set the herbs on fire.

Still eyeing Ley, Pheus crept up to him. “Stand up; I’ll wash you,” he requested. Ley had somehow managed to haul a whole bucket full of water down.

She sat grinning a few feet away from them and watched how Pheus carefully cleaned Ayve. Ayve savoured those last touches before they would go and pretend not to feel anything again.

When they entered the main cave, it was unusually crowded. They were told that the corpses had been cleared away and the wounded had been taken care of. Pheus’ father invited them to sit at his fire.

The way he stared at them when they arrived irritated Ayve. What irritated him even more, though, was that suddenly Pheus’ father paid attention to him. He started telling tales about the times of his grandfather, when his kin and the nymphs had lived in close proximity. “We exchanged goods – we gave you jewellery and everyday objects made of metal, you delivered us herbs, fruits, and medicine – until unfortunately humans started settling in the area and your tribe decided to move on. I have to admit, I have always been led to believe that the nymph way of dealing with the human threat was a sign of weakness. I have underestimated you.” He handed Ayve a cup of tea.

Ayve took it, Pheus’ taste still on his lips. At the beginning of his stay with these people, such a noble gesture would have meant a lot to Ayve, but he had gotten along with Pheus’ people without being the leader’s protégé, and now it meant nothing at all. All that mattered was being with Pheus.

They went to the sleeping room together. The tunnel was deserted.

“How is this going to continue, now?” Ayve asked.

“What?”

“Us.”

Pheus stopped in his tracks and sighed.

Ayve turned around and looked at Pheus in alarm. “Pheus?” His voice carried a slight trace of panic.

Pheus looked aside, visibly uncomfortable in the situation. “I don’t know, Ayve. We’ve won one fight – there is no guarantee that we’ll be left alone, now. Rekr won’t change his strategy. The conditions haven’t really changed; giving in to our desires would be too risky – especially now that he starts confiding in you.”

He did not know where it came from, but suddenly anger rose in Ayve. “I don’t give a damn about what your father thinks of me,” he said sharply.

“But I do. I cannot risk upsetting him; he holds my future in his hands! Without his approval I’m nothing!” Pheus retorted just as sharply, but a dash of desperation was mingled with it.

“Right.” Ayve turned around and stormed off past the entrance to the sleeping room towards the exit.

Ayve sat on his bed. A small bundle was resting beside him. He waited.

Pheus stirred and turned in his sleep, slowly coming back to consciousness. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times before he looked at Ayve. There was a strange expression in his lover’s face.

“Ayve?”

“I have made a decision while you have slept,” Ayve stated. It was a decision that scared him, yet he felt it was long overdue.

“What decision is that supposed to be?”

“That depends on you. If you stick with your opinion that we cannot be together here and now-“

“There is no way we could,” Pheus said calmly, interrupting Ayve.

“-then I will go,” Ayve continued. “You are the reason I have stayed for so long. If there is no future for us here, then my future is elsewhere.”

“You can’t be serious! Ayve!” Pheus had jumped up, startled.

Ayve got up slowly. “Come with me.”

“Leave everything behind?” Pheus asked disbelievingly. “Everything I have fought for all my life? Where do you want to go anyway?”

“If you don’t come with me, I’ll probably try to return to my tribe. I’m more confident, now. I know what I want; I’m more experienced. Perhaps I can manage to reach some state of acceptance, arrange myself with my kind.” Ayve lowered his voice. “With you I’d go anywhere, though.”

Pheus stepped closer to him. “Ayve… Wait a little longer. We’ll find a way.” He wanted to embrace the half-nymph, but he shied away.

“I cannot Pheus. I cannot bear this any longer. I have waited for ages and nothing has changed.”

“That is not my fault.” Pheus said coldly.

“But it is your decision, now, if you come with me,” Ayve countered.

“I cannot.” There was something pleading in Pheus’ raspy voice.

Ayve took up his bundle.

Pheus seized his arm. “If you go now, that is the end. There will be no turning back.” Now his tone was harsh. Pheus tried to scare Ayve.

The nymph stayed calm, however. He knew that already; it was nothing he could be threatened with. “Indeed. If you don’t come with me now, we’ll never see us again.”

Pheus let go of him. He was hurt; that was plain to see.

Ayve turned and went past the guards out of the lair.

Have I ever hinted that I like comments?