Gabe
The troops were set to move at dawn. Gabe awoke before the first rays of sunlight streaked across the sky, a cold shiver running down his spine as reality settled over him. Before he could fully gather his thoughts, rough hands grabbed him, hauling him into a transportation cart, one similar to the one he'd been crammed into when he was first brought here with the other vaisas.
The wooden cart creaked as it lurched forward, the mechanical motors pulling them steadily toward an unknown destination. The rhythmic clatter of hooves against the hardened dirt filled the air, mingling with the murmurs of the vaisas inside.
Gabe didn't know much about war, but from what he had overheard, they were supposed to be heading north toward enemy lines. Yet as he peered out through the small, dust-covered window, he realized they were moving in the opposite direction.
Frowning, he strained to see beyond the blur of trees and soldiers marching beside them. His breath caught when a familiar figure passed by, the imposing, regal form of Deroki. Te vaisas all tried to peer outside, murmuring exsitedly at the sight of him.
Deroki's eyes met Gabe for the briefest moment before Deroki strode past, his expression unreadable.
Gabe went utterly still, his fingers clenching into his lap. Last night's conversation replayed in his mind, each word carrying the weight of unspoken truths. Nothing he had said to Deroki had been a lie, yet there were hidden meanings woven into his words. Hidden agendas.
Marisel's voice echoed in his memory. The promise he had made to her. A promise he wasn't sure he had the strength to keep.
"Do you know where we're going?" one of the vaisas beside him asked, voice tinged with unease.
"We're being moved to another campsite," an omega answered, though he didn't sound entirely convinced.
"I'm scared," the first one admitted, lowering her voice. "What if we're attacked? If something happens, the soldiers won't protect us. They'll leave us behind."
A heavy silence settled over the cart, the reality of their helplessness pressing down on them.
Hours passed. Gabe had no way of knowing how far they had traveled or how long they had been on the road. His body ached from sitting in the cramped space, the journey seeming endless.
Finally, the cart lurched to a stop. The door swung open, and rough hands dragged them out into the harsh daylight. They were given their usual tasks, setting up tents, preparing the new campsite. This location was different from the last. Dense trees surrounded them, the scent of damp earth and moss filling the air.
Gabe was securing a tent post when a soldier approached, his presence commanding attention.
"Hey, you. The cursed one," the man barked.
Gabe turned, narrowing his eyes.
"The King has summoned you."
His stomach twisted. Why now? Why would Deroki want to see him when the soldiers were preparing for battle?
The soldier led him to Deroki's tent. Gabe stepped inside, lowering his head respectfully.
"How can I help you, Your Majesty?" he asked, bowing.
Deroki let out an irritated sigh. "Drop the act. You can call me by my real name now. And look at me when you speak. And..." he paused "I don't like you bowing to me."
In another situation, the words might have sounded warm, even intimate, but right now, Deroki's annoyance was palpable. Like he was more irritated than concerned for him. Gabe hesitated before lifting his gaze to meet him.
"Change into something more suitable," Deroki said abruptly. "You're coming with me to the war zone."
Gabe's brow furrowed. "You want me to accompany you?"
"Yes, Gabe." Deroki's voice was clipped, impatient. "I thought you wanted to see what I'm capable of. And besides..." He paused, his gaze darkening. "I can't leave you here. This camp could be attacked. I need to keep you alive as long as I can."
Gabe's heart clenched.
"What about the others?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Deroki's jaw tightened, his expression hardening. "Do you still think I care?"
Gabe knew then that there would be no convincing him. The hatred in Deroki's heart ran too deep, the fire of vengeance too consuming. The lives of the other vaisas were insignificant to him.
Gabe adjusted the borrowed cotton pants, the fabric slightly stiff against his skin. They belonged to one of the medics, a size too loose, tied securely around his waist with a rope. His white shirt, originally intended as a nightdress, hung over his frame, the only piece of clothing he had packed in the small bag he had been allowed to bring. He looked anything but prepared for war.
When he arrived at the edge of the campground, he found Deroki deep in conversation with his soldiers. At his presence, every gaze shifted toward him, some curious, some suspicious, others unreadable. He felt their stares press against his skin, assessing him, questioning why a an omega, a vaisa at that, had been summoned by their king.
Deroki turned to him with that unreadable expression. "This is your ride," he said, pointing to a horse saddled beside his own powerful black steed.
Gabe blinked. "I have a personal horse?" He couldn't mask the disbelief in his voice.
Deroki's lips curved slightly, an almost mocking smirk. "Would you prefer to ride with me instead?"
The murmurs among the soldiers stopped. The air tensed, eyes widening ever so slightly. Did he not care how they would perceive such a suggestion? Gabe swallowed.
"No," he said quickly. "I'm fine with this one."
He approached the horse, reaching out tentatively. He had ridden before, long ago, in the monastery where they were trained in many things. But years had passed, and as he struggled to pull himself onto the saddle, the horse neighed, shifting uneasily beneath his weight. Deroki didn't spare him a glance, didn't offer a helping hand which was to bee expected.
Deroki mounted his own steed with a grace that made Gabe's clumsy attempts all the more humiliating. Clicking his tongue, Deroki made his horse move forward, leading the group. Some soldiers followed on horseback, while most traveled on foot.
Gabe exhaled sharply and clicked his tongue as well, but his horse remained unmoved. He tried shifting his weight, urging it forward, but it refused to budge. Frustration coiled in his chest, until suddenly, the horse began to move on its own.
Gabe's gaze snapped forward and landed on the rope tethering his horse to Deroki's.
That bastard. He was pulling him along like a motorless cart.
For a brief moment, a chuckle threatened to escape his lips. It was absurd, this whole situation. And yet, despite the weight of what lay ahead, despite the war brewing on the horizon, he felt something unexpected.
Freedom.
For the first time in his life, he was beyond the walls of the palace, beyond the suffocating confines of his past. The world stretched before him, vast and unfamiliar, and though he knew it would never be the same after this battle, there was something exhilarating about it.
"People are staring at me," Gabe muttered as his horse finally aligned beside Deroki's, their shoulders almost brushing.
"Then stop staring back at them," Deroki said without looking at him.
Gabe huffed. "Won't they wonder why you're dragging an omega along?"
"Let them wonder. I'm not obligated to entertain their curiosity." His voice was calm, detached, his posture as regal as ever as his horse moved steadily forward.
Gabe hesitated before asking, "Where are we going?"
Deroki exhaled sharply. "Why are you talking so much? Are you nervous?" He asked, finally turning to look at him, those sharp, piercing eyes locking onto Gabe's.
Gabe's throat tightened. It was ridiculous how easily those eyes could unravel him.
"Are you?" he shot back.
For a moment, Deroki just stared. Maybe he was surprised by Gabe's sudden lack of restraint. Truthfully, Gabe was shocked himself. He had always been careful around the king, always measured his words. But now... now he had nothing to lose. And there was a strange kind of freedom in that.
Deroki didn't answer. Instead, he shook his head and looked away.
Feeling rebellious, Gabe pushed further. "Why do you want to keep me alive?"
Deroki's jaw clenched. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, but there was something seething beneath it. "To make you suffer."
Gabe's breath caught.
"You always die young, Gabe," Deroki continued, his voice turning cold, detached. "But this time, I won't let you slip away so easily. I want you to see what mortal life means to me. I want you to witness the destruction I am capable of."
Gabe's chest tightened. "So you're doing all this to spite me?" His voice was quiet but firm. "A god, an immortal, is going to kill thousands and bring down the immortal realm to bother mere mortal like me?"
Deroki turned sharply, his eyes dark with something violent, something raw.
"Yes, Gabe," he gritted out. "Because I am selfish. Because the only thing I ever wanted can never be mine."
The words settled between them, thick and suffocating, like storm clouds gathering before an inevitable downpour. The tension in the air was palpable, a force pressing against Gabe's chest, demanding to be acknowledged.
His fingers tightened around the reins, knuckles going white. But what was the point of fighting it? The irony was that he had already felt like he belonged to Deroki, had felt it from the very moment he first laid eyes on him in that grand, imposing throne months ago. That day, he had stood before him, pleading for knowledge, unaware that the one granting it would one day shatter the very foundation of his world.
But love, Gabe's love, was not the same as Deroki's.
Deroki wanted him forever. To be with him for eternity. To strip away the very thing that made him human: his mortality. But what was love without the certainty of loss? Without the knowledge that one day, the person you held dear would slip from your grasp, forcing you to cherish every fleeting moment? To be trapped in an endless existence, never knowing the urgency of time running out... that was not love. That was something else. The idea was terrifying.
Gabe's stomach twisted at the thought. How could he ever accept immortality?
He forced his mind away from the turmoil brewing within him and asked, "Why are you at the front of the troop? Are you going to be the first to attack?"
Deroki's head snapped toward him, irritation flashing in his golden eyes. "Enough with the questions!" he barked.
Gabe bit his tongue, swallowing back a smirk. There it was, that sharp impatience. He let the silence stretch between them as they rode on, his heart pounding against his ribs.
As they neared a gathering of soldiers in the distance, the air around them shifted. Tension rippled through the ranks of men waiting ahead. Fear flickered across their faces the moment they laid eyes on Deroki. Their terror was unmistakable, spreading like wildfire through the crowd.
Deroki, on the other hand, looked smug, almost entertained by their reaction.
His black horse surged forward, eating up the ground with powerful strides. The moment they were close enough, he pulled his sword from his side, the blade gleaming in the dying sunlight. Gabe hadn't even noticed it was there.
Then, without hesitation, he swung.
The first soldier fell instantly, his body crumpling like a lifeless doll. Blood splattered across the ground, soaking the dirt in a crimson flood. The second and third barely had time to react before Deroki cut through them just as easily, like slicing through ripe fruit.
A golden aura pulsed around him, divine energy radiating from his very being. He moved with terrifying precision, his strikes seamless, effortless. It was almost inhuman, no, it was inhuman. He and his horse were one, a singular force of destruction tearing through the enemy ranks.
Gabe turned away.
He squeezed his eyes shut, the gruesome display too much to bear. But it didn't matter. The scent of blood clung to the air, thick and suffocating, coating his throat with its metallic tang. A warm spray of it hit his face, and his stomach lurched.
The screams. The sounds of metal slicing through flesh. The sickening crunch of bones snapping under relentless force.
Deroki barely needed the soldiers trailing behind him. He was doing most of the work himself, cutting through men like they were nothing. And Gabe, Gabe was simply being dragged along, his horse unnaturally keeping pace with Deroki's, dodging attacks as if guided by an unseen force.
Time lost all meaning.
It could have been minutes. It could have been hours.
And then, finally, silence.
A deafening, eerie silence.
When Gabe dared to open his eyes, the battlefield stretched before him in a horrifying tableau of death. Corpses littered the ground, bodies stacked upon bodies, faces frozen in expressions of pain and fear. Blood soaked the earth, turning the dirt into something dark and unrecognizable.
There were no survivors.
Gabe swallowed against the nausea clawing at his throat.
He turned to find Deroki staring at him, his face unreadable. The golden glow around him had dimmed, but his presence was just as commanding, just as untouchable. His sword hung loosely in his grip, blood dripping from its edge.
And then he asked, voice as steady as ever, "Do you still want to stay with me, Gabe?"
There was no remorse in his eyes. No regret for the lives he had taken.
This wasn't war.
This was deliberate destruction.
This was revenge.
Gabe knew he couldn't hold anyone accountable for killing in battle. That was the nature of war. But this... this was something far more terrifying.
His throat felt tight. His body trembled, the weight of his decision pressing against him.
But when he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper.
"Yes."
It quivered, but the words left his lips nonetheless.
"I want to stay."
***
Read the full book on my Patreon along with all my other MM books.
Link- www.patreon.com/RHRose