"... Kaelen..."
"...Kaelen..."
"...Kaelen..."
Kaelen slowly opened his eyes as he found himself lying in Draeven's bed under the blankets.
It was a calm and radiant morning.
He was breathing heavily when suddenly he felt a hand touch his bare chest.
He turned towards the owner of the hand to see that it was none other than Draeven, who was smiling warmly.
"Good morning, my love...how did you sleep?"
Kaelen looked at Draeven in silence; his heart ached, and he couldn't help but start to tear up.
Draeven quickly became concerned for Kaelen as he hugged his lover.
"My Dear," Said Draeven in an extremely concerned tone, "Why are you crying? What happened? Are you feeling unwell? Are you hurt?" He kept asking Kaelen for any possible reason for his sudden tearing up before Kaelen hugged him tightly and started to explain to Draeven all his nightmares between sobs and while trembling.
After the Explanation, Draeven kissed Kaelen softly on the forehead.
"Oh, my poor love...such a horrible nightmare...I would never do something like that, my love," Said Draeven as he kept kissing and cuddling Kaelen with a soft and gentle touch.
"I would never tell anyone to hunt you down...when I can kill you here myself".
At those words, Kaelen tensed before looking up at Draeven right in the eyes...some wicked eyes on a clearly immoral face...Draeven's face was by far the scariest thing Kaelen had ever seen...He was smiling...A clearly wicked and sadistic smile, and his eyes were almost closed from the sheer size of it.
Kaelen's heart started to beat with pure fear as Kaelen then, suddenly, vomited blood.
The Crimson liquid soaked the white blankets of the bed, which, along with all the things around him, turned into blood as well.
He slowly started to drown in the blood as he couldn't do anything but look at the smiling face of Draeven, enjoying the sight of his demise.
He tried to thrash around, to swim, to scream...but it was all useless.
"I told you, didn't I?" Said Draeven, "Betrayal hurts".
Kaelen jolted awake as he sat up, screaming.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
But as he did so, he gave a headbutt to something extra hard, as he then heard a falling sound on the ground, followed by a masculine voice.
"Ow! Fuck my nose," Cursed Mujin as he was now on the ground, clutching his bruised nose.
A feminine laugh came from behind him.
"Damn, Mujin, you can create craters with your punches, but you can feel pain from a single headbutt?" Laughed out loud, Aja.
"Ah ah, really funny, next time I'm headbutting you in the nose, then you tell me how it feels," Said Mujin while slowly standing up to then rub his nose.
As Aja and Mujin kept arguing, even if more than an argument was Aja laughing at Mujin while he barked at her, Kaelen looked at them, confused.
That was the guy from yesterday, but who was that girl? Who were they? And where was he?
He had so many questions, but he had to be cautious...yesterday he saw firsthand how powerful that guy was...and honestly he didn't want to experience it on his skin.
He gulped down before looking at both of them with a serious and vigilant face. "Hey!"
Mujin and Aja stopped arguing as they both turned towards Kaelen.
"Who are you? Where did you bring me?"
Aja was the first to speak, "Easy...take it easy...even if your bruises all healed, you still consumed a lot of stamina yesterday...don't worry, we are not going to hurt you, we are friends...even if the guy next to me doesn't look that calming at all, he is still a good guy...relatively"
"As if you are better than me," Answered back Mujin.
"Where am I?" continued Kaelen.
"A wooden house in a clearing between the mountains and the forest...don't worry, you're safe now"
Kaelen sighed in relief, but he didn't stop being vigilant.
"What do you want from me?"
"Like I told you before, we are friends...we healed your wounds and we took care of you"
"Why? You don't even know me."
This time, it was Mujin to speak, "You know, I just can't stand aside and let someone weaker get hurt without doing anything to prevent it."
"...But didn't you try to bluff to get out of that situation?"
"It was all part of the plan, don't worry about that, and anyway it worked."
Kaelen looked at Mujin with an "Are you serious about what you're saying?" face.
"...Ok, maybe I did...but can you really blame me? I didn't see you among all those armored men."
"Whatever," then broke in Aja, "the important thing is that you are safe now...and I suppose you're hungry after the run of yesterday, aren't you?"
As if awakened by Aja's words, Kaelen felt his stomach growl.
"I guess I am."
Aja smiled, "Worry not, my friend, for you will be fed by the best chef in the world..."
She paused while pointing at the door with her hand as if for a dramatic effect, as Kaelen looked at her, then at the door, waiting for a few seconds.
"...Is it supposed to happen anything or..."
"Sssssssh," Hushed Aja as after some more seconds her little brother, Avos, came inside the room.
"...My little brother!" Said then Aja, thinking that it was one of the coolest moments ever.
But on the other hand, Kaelen felt embarrassed for her.
"Oh, cool, I guess," said Kaelen.
"You guess?" Aja shot a glance at Kaelen. "You. Guess?...for you to know, ungrateful boy, My little brother is always Cool without a guess."
"ok, ok, sorry," Said Kaelen, raising his hands in a calming gesture.
Mujin raised an eyebrow and looked at Aja. "Wow, did someone ever tell you that you have grace? You know the reason now."
"And you call that a funny remark?"
"No, but since now you are angry, I guess it worked."
"Why you..."
Avos cleared his voice. "Big sis, Mujin, Kaelen, I'm sorry to bother you, but the lunch is ready."
Aja answered, "We are coming, my lovely little brother, and don't worry, you never bother us and never will."
Mujin smiled as he patted his abdomen. "Thank God that you are here, Avos. I'm basically starving, and since you're far better than your sister, I can't help but be grateful that I at least live with both of you."
Avos blushed heavily. "W-Wha-? a-ah...y-yes, thank y-you"
"Not even gonna be angry...of course my little brother is better than me...nothing is comparable to him".
Avos blushed even more. "T-T-Thank y-y-you"
In the meantime, Kaelen was looking at all 3 of them with a confused glare.
These guys were surely weirdos.
But he had to admit that, indeed, that shy-looking boy who just entered the room was surely adorable.