10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Z en wasn't sure what was more horrifying—Gaian's eyes, his fangs, his face smeared with blood, or the body bleeding out what little remained in it, until it shifted from the form of a wolf to a limp, dead man.

A young man.

The same young man who had made Zen jealous by dancing with Enki.

Zen wanted to run. Be sick. Scream. But what left him was a desperate prayer.

" S-S-Sun —"

His hand that started to rise was caught; his words crushed by a second grip on his throat.

"Hush now. No need for that." Gaian's grip slackened, and Zen gasped for the breath that had been choked from him. The beautiful vampire had blinked in front of Zen so quickly, no eye could have caught him. "I do not wish to hurt you, my love. I would never hurt you. Forgive my harshness." Gaian gently petted Zen's neck across the scar, his hand unwinding and thumb dragging down the jugular. "But don't do that again."

Zen's face felt hot, his vision blurring as tears formed to streak unbidden down his cheeks. He started to shake and couldn't seem to stop. "P-please…"

Why had Zen left Daxos? Why had he so foolishly believed he could be an adventurer?

Why did the monster have to be Enki?

"Retreat," Gaian commanded the remaining werewolf without moving his eyes from Zen's. "Take the body and give my condolences to the family. I will punish no one else for your insolence, but the adventurers are not to learn the truth. Now, go."

"Yes, my lord." The werewolf bowed its head, its voice strangely familiar. Then it rose from how it had been kneeling, and before reaching to pick up the broken body from the floor, it transformed back into the dark elf it was.

Degnan.

He scooped up the dead young man with ease and exited without passing Zen a sparing glance.

Zen couldn't breathe. Gaian wasn't choking him anymore, but he couldn't breathe .

"Peace, my Zenos." Gaian pulled Zen closer, so close that Zen could smell the tang of blood on his skin. "Was it not a nice dream I gave you? Like the ones we used to share?"

The glowing red of Gaian's eyes dimmed, returning to ruddy brown, and his fangs retracted, leaving only the scarlet smeared across his pale face—his beautiful face.

Like Enki.

Like Zen's angel.

"No." Zen lurched backward, and though he feared a vice grip would stop him, Gaian let him go with outstretched hands left empty. "You're not the man from my dreams. You can't be! You read it from my mind! To trick me! To torture me…"

"Never," Gaian countered, face pinched and eyes mournful. "I only meant to know you. This you. Don't you understand? You are my Zenos. You are my lost love returned to me at last."

Zen's angel had called him that in the dreams, but no— no —this was wrong.

It had to be wrong!

"What do you want from me?" Zen demanded, even as his tears kept spilling.

"All I want is to be with you, always." Gaian wiped the blood from his face, but while he looked like Enki, Zen could see the stain of red on his shirtsleeve like a brand.

"Then why lie?" Zen backpedaled another step. "Why have those things attack the village? That little girl…"

"She is fine," Gaian insisted. "All illusion. Everyone is fine. No one has been hurt, I swear to you."

"Except the man you killed."

Gaian froze where he had begun to press forward, his face showing a flicker of the coldness he'd displayed a moment ago. "He disobeyed. A lord must keep order."

"And what of the bodies between here and the barrier?" Zen kept moving backward, until he hit the wall beside the staircase. "What of the people of Daxos who your horde lays to waste? And all for what? To find me? It was all because of me…"

"Sacrifices had to be made." Gaian continued his advance on Zen, maintaining the visage of beautiful Enki, however unlike him he had proven to be. "Others refused to remain loyal, and my horde is often hungry. You don't understand, but you will—"

"No!" Zen shouted with what little resolve he had left. "Stay away from me."

Jax. All Zen could think about was Jax.

Yet still, Gaian beseeched him.

"I wanted to know you. I wanted you to know me, as I once was."

"And the wolves? This charade?"

"I thought if your fellows were weak, then they deserved to perish here, but they are more than they seem, like you said. Go with them." Gaian gestured back at the door. "Continue your quest. Come to my castle. Let them think you have a chance to succeed. Then, when you choose me of your own volition, if you wish them spared, I will grant you that."

As Gaian reached out, Zen flattened himself to the wall. "Don't touch me. You're a monster."

The sorrow that filled Gaian's eyes—his rich, brown, human eyes—almost might have swayed Zen. "You don't understand, because you don't remember everything yet, but you will." Gaian grasped the cord of his pendant and pulled it from beneath his shirt. It was a brilliant ruby-red crystal, only the size of a thumb but shimmering with power. "With this, I can make you remember."

A crystal to call back his love's soul.

"To replace me…" Zen stared at the gem in horror.

"Your soul is already in you, my love. Fear not. It is not a body I wanted returned to me, to then change how you were reborn. I want you—all of you. This crystal can simply call back the parts of you that you've forgotten. When the time is right."

Fearful as Zen had been of the crystal, watching Gaian tuck it back beneath his shirt made him curious to know what secrets it contained and if it could truly make any of this less terrifying.

"First, I will prove myself to you, but you will choose me."

Swift but not preternaturally so, Gaian descended upon Zen to cup his cheek. He drew Zen forward, and his lips pressing to Zen's made the taste of bile at the back of Zen's throat stronger than ever—because it was so sweet, so good, everything Zen had ever wanted, now ruined.

He only kissed back because he wanted to remember, to hang on to the lie that for a brief span of time he had something just for him that wasn't tarnished by how he'd been born.

He'd never known how cursed his birth truly was.

Within the kiss, Gaian pulled the lily from Zen's sash, and when they parted, he lifted it between them. Zen didn't realize he was still crying until Gaian wiped at the tears. He thought Gaian meant for him to take the flower, but Gaian pressed it to the left breast of Zen's robes, and it vanished with a glimmer, reappearing as stitching in the shape of a lily like moon-touched embroidery.

"They're running!" a voice sounded outside—Khel, rushing past the building.

"The villagers are only doing what I asked of them," Gaian said. "Go to your friends. Play along."

"I can't. I won't . I must tell them the truth—"

"Do you want them to know? About all this?" Gaian gestured between them. "About who you are? Then tell them. But I ask you, please, give me the chance to win your favor. I will come to you again, so keep coming for me, keep heading toward my castle. In time, I will show you everything we lost."

The touch of his hand, cool once more on Zen's cheek, made Zen close his eyes, longing for it to be Enki. When the touch withdrew, and Zen opened his eyes, Gaian was gone. The only thing that remained was the pool of blood on the floor and the lily stitched into Zen's robes.

Zen sprinted for the door, feeling what it must be like to be in a nightmare for the first time, because every shadow he passed, he expected to reach out and snatch him.

Dante and Morty had just rushed past when he exited onto the street, Khel far ahead of them now, all sprinting for the edge of the protective circle, where a dozen or so werewolves were retreating, some limping and holding wounds.

Zen followed the others, who had yet to notice him, just as the wolves passed over the trap he had laid from the rooftop. The intricate designs glowed like they had when Zen first cast it, causing the wolves to lurch as they halted, their feet stuck to the ground as if shackled in place.

"Well done!" Khel said as he spun and spotted Zen. "It was you, wasn't it? Morty's entrapments look different. Smart thinking!"

"I—"

"So that's what you were up to." Dante reached back from where he'd halted to smack Zen's shoulder. "Knew you were a worthy addition."

Zen had set the trap, but…

But…

"Is that all of them?" Morty asked, focused on the werewolves, as he swirled a ball of fire between his palms that kept growing, which he clearly intended to throw.

"Wait!" Zen rushed past Dante to stop Morty, calling similarly to Khel, who had started to advance on the wolves with sword raised. "Don't. Please. They're not mindless like ghouls. They can think, reason."

The villagers were starting to gather, coming out from where they had been hiding now that the danger was passed.

But then, there never had been any danger, not for anyone besides the werewolf Gaian slayed.

Zen's friends looked to him curiously. It wasn't an adventurer's prerogative to be merciful to monsters. Zen could see the concerned looks on the villagers' faces, likely in fear for how Gaian might punish them if Zen gave the game away.

"They… they were retreating," Zen hurried to explain. "Can't we force them to return human? Imprison them?"

"They're werewolves!" Dante swung his axe up to grip tight in both hands. It was a wonder he hadn't killed some already and that they only appeared maimed.

"Mercy is… virtuous," Khel offered, lowering his sword in contrast.

Morty snuffed out his fireball with a huff. "And werewolves do have more sense and independence than other creatures ruled by a vampire lord. What say you, Degnan?"

Zen's stomach dropped, turning to see Degnan coming out of the crowd. He had managed to remain unbloodied from the body he'd carried, wherever it had ended up.

"They were hiding amongst us," Degnan said, the adage of a wolf in sheep's clothing never before having resonated with Zen more clearly, "maybe only a few, who then let the others in, but they did so believing they were doing our lord's bidding. Perhaps they deserve mercy."

"But why attack?" Khel asked, eyeing the wolves in suspicion. "I thought we were a good omen."

"Because of me," Zen said, and though he was tempted to reveal the whole truth, when all eyes turned to him, he found he couldn't. "I'm a priest of the Sun God, and such a thing is an afront to Lord Gaian in the eyes of his horde."

"And I proclaimed you as such like a fool." Khel slumped.

The brightly lit trap flickered and started to crack.

"They're escaping!" Dante cried.

One of the wolves must be a wizard, or more likely several, to break a spell like that.

Khel swung his sword up in defense, while Dante rushed forward, but not even Morty with a fresh swirl of fire was fast enough to act before the wolves were free and fleeing into the darkness.

"We can't!" Khel stopped Dante when he tried to barrel past him. "They might rally, and we have no idea what's out there. We have to regroup first."

Dante growled and threw his axe to the ground.

"I am sorry, friend." Khel squeezed his arm before letting go, and then looked with equal apology to Zen. "This was all my fault."

It wasn't, but all Zen could say was, "You didn't know."

Only when Zen was certain that none of his friends were watching did he glance at Degnan, unsure how to regard the man, who might be one of many wolves still here. Was his wife also? His children? Zen could see them standing off to the side, but he had no way of knowing. All he knew was that the solemn, thankful nod Degnan offered made him feel sick.

Zen had spent all day with the very monster they were out to kill, a monster with far more power than they were prepared to handle. And he wanted Zen. Zen was the lost love from the story, equally the key to Gaian's revenge or his undoing in some impossible way that Zen didn't understand. How could he fight something like that, how could he outwit destiny, when he couldn't even speak the truth to his friends?

As the villagers began to disperse and return to their homes, everything stilled as if nothing had occurred, least of all a festival. Zen couldn't imagine staying in the village that night, but thankfully, his friends agreed that it wouldn't be safe.

"Take these extra protection rods." Degnan handed Morty a bundle bound in a simple sack. "They need to be a meter or less apart to work, but this should be enough to protect whatever camp you make."

"Thank you. We would stay, but…"

"You need to put the safety of yourself and your fellows first. I understand." Degnan's dark eyes shifted once more, briefly, to Zen's.

Zen and his party didn't need protection rods. Whatever happened to them would be the will of Lord Gaian.