11. Hadi

Chapter 11

Hadi

I crawled amongst the branches whilst my disloyal court walked below me, flanking their new master.

For there was no doubt now that they had replaced me, just as the entire noc kingdom had.

My lip curled with distaste as I glanced down at them.

Of course, the moment my eyes landed on Batu Sun’s form, the noc killer’s face turned up toward me, catching my gaze immediately.

He was sharp. I would concede on that matter. He was also brave and willing to accept a certain amount of pain for that which he believed in.

My gaze did not so much as flicker away and his was just as steady until, with a sigh, he bent his head to watch his steps once more, as though dismissing me.

I did not admire the human, but now, more than ever, I appreciated a good servant, and the human emperor had one in Batu Sun.

“How is it that you are the only person who knows the location of the moonstone?” Clem asked as they walked.

As though I was still the specter that hung above them, I listened without taking part in their conversations. For some time now, I had been fully aware, simply watching and listening. It suited me for now, so my lips remained sealed.

“Years ago, when I first became the only first-ranked fighter of the human army, my great emperor Gaulu summoned me to his chambers,” Sun began. “There, he gave me my most important mission to date; to hide Tsuki’s stone.”

Clem gasped.

“So, he gave it to you?” he asked in wonder. “You once possessed the stone?”

“Imagine if we had found it then,” Bracken said. “We would have fought you for it.”

“I’m glad we didn’t know where it was,” Clem said. “Then we would never have gotten to know you.”

“You assume you would have defeated me,” Sun said, laughing while I seethed. If only we had found the stone back then, while it had been guarded by only one measly human.

“You forget that I am known as the noc killer for a reason. Two nocs would be nothing for me.” He winked at Bracken and then Kiar as though it was an inside joke.

Disgusting.

Worst of all, neither of them seemed to mind. They indulged in his ridiculous stories. Yes, he had killed countless of our kind, but he relied on tricks, like all humans did.

It was ridiculous and insulting for him to pretend he was a match for any of us.

“You were not so confident when you were trapped in my web,” I couldn’t help but mutter.

Sun glanced up at me then and smirked .

He knew his comment had bothered me.

My fury nearly boiled over.

Without thinking, I dropped from the tree, landing with a loud thump on all eight of my feet, onto the ground behind the group. As one, they all turned to face me.

At least Clem looked worried, but the other three simply stood there, their gazes hard as they awaited my actions.

I had to stop myself from moving forward and ending the human as he should have been ended so many years ago. Only self-preservation kept me where I was.

Clenching my fists at my side, I stood there, towering over all but Bracken who was nearly my height unless I stretched up on my legs. I was tempted to posture. Normally, no one would dare face off against me, let alone the very nocs who had served me for all of our existence, and now they did it with ease.

Because I was no longer their king.

It hit me like a physical blow.

I had been born into the position. Even before I’d rallied the nocs and taken their human capital, I had known. It was meant for me and me alone and now it was gone. The life I knew was gone. I had only two choices; accept it and move on or fight to get it back. My choice was obvious. I would not rest until I was on a throne once more. And the only way to get there was by working with these backstabbing fools.

Slowly, I crossed my arms.

“I don’t believe we will ever get to Yin Valley if you plan to stand there and stare at me all day,” I said curtly.

A surprised silence hung in the air. They had been expecting a face off, but I wouldn’t give them one. For all I knew, when the tether was broken, their loyalties would shift back to me. Even if it didn’t, I would find a way to regain my power without their help.

Finally, all four of them turned around, as one and began to walk again.

This time, the silence dragged on. There was a thickness in the air between us all, tension across all of their shoulders because now I walked behind them.

I supposed that I could stab them in the backs the way they had done to me, but in a more... physical way, but no, I had decided to do this. The thought of getting my hands on the moonstone, of feeling its cool, smooth surface in my palm nearly made me tremble.

I had wanted it for so long.

Such a shame that the sunstone was still kept in Yewan, the heart of the nocturnal kingdom. I would have loved to hold both stones... It did not matter though. Brought back to life and with the moonstone, I would not be turned away from my throne when we returned to our capital city of Yewan.

After taking my throne, the new, false king, Daaku would never see me coming.

As the hours passed, no one complained or asked for a rest, not even Clem who now walked with Batu Sun’s hand clasped in his.

“When we arrive,” Kiar said, after some time, “I shall enter the valley first. Clem, you remain hidden and Bracken will follow behind Sun.”

“What of me?” I asked. I was not surprised that Kiar was making plans. He was always making plans. That was why I had trusted him as my advisor, he used his mind over his baser instincts, a quality that many nocs lacked. Or at least, he had . Now, having seen the way he fawned over Sun and rutted with him at every chance I wasn’t so sure.

“No one knows that our king still lives,” Kiar said. “We must keep that to ourselves lest the current king send an entire army after you. You must remain hidden until we have spoken to the goddess.”

I couldn’t argue that, but it made my jaw clench. How was I supposed to hide while they got the stone? I needed to have it, to hold it.

“I don’t want to stay behind either,” Clem whined.

“You are too weak,” Bracken argued. “You will do as Kiar says or else risk all of our lives.”

He turned his pout toward Batu Sun, who until now had remained silent and I realized that I was not the only one who had lost my loyal servants to the human. Even Bracken’s pet deferred to Batu Sun.

He reached out, clearly suppressing a smile as he petted Clem’s head.

“I’m sure if any of us are in mortal danger, your glow will alert you and you can fly to the rescue again.”

Clem inflated, beaming happily as Bracken and Kiar both began to argue.

“He cannot under any circumstances enter Yin Valley–”

“It will be war; we will all be lucky to survive without having to save Clem.”

Batu Sun gave each of them a hard look.

“Do not forget that Clem was the one who saved me two nights ago,” he said. “Without him, none of us would be here and he deserves respect for that.”

“But our lives will be in danger the entire time,” Bracken argued. “He will try to rescue us and end up killing us all.”

“Bracken is correct,” I said. “Mothians are too foolish to be on a battlefield. They crave a taste of danger and pain and always end up dead.”

Sun pursed his lips, probably familiar with that truth about their kind.

“Then you can only come to our aid if it is very dire,” he told Clem. “In the meantime, remain hidden with Alhadya and keep each other safe.”

There was a moment of tense silence and I sighed, knowing that Bracken and Kiar were not done arguing with Sun’s reckless desire to have a mothian on a battlefield.

“Enough,” I said, walking past them.

The game path we had been following had become nearly nonexistent. Soon, I would be forced back into the branches in order to simply move through the trees.

“We have another day’s walk before we will reach the valley. Now is not the time to argue.”

To my pleasure, when I glanced back, the others were following me.

It was a small victory, but one that I would take. As meaningless as it was, it felt good to be listened to. It felt good to have a voice again in general, and even better to have a body. I felt, however, as though I had been cooped up for months, my mouth gagged.

I wanted to stretch and run, to fight and shout . To let out all the pent-up energy and emotions would be like freedom. Unfortunately, killing those bastards who had overthrown me would have to do. I just hoped when the time came, the others saw reason and joined me. After all, they could not remain with the human forever. He would abandon them eventually, or perhaps even turn on them.

“We have walked long enough,” Bracken said into the silence.

I looked up at the sky, surprised to see that the stars had moved from one side of the sky to the other.

We had started our walk in the last whisps of daylight and now night was nearly over, but I was not tired. My limbs were only pleasantly worn. I did not want to stop yet.

I glanced back at the others, saw that Kiar and Bracken were already helping the other two through the brambles into a small clearing and sighed.

It seemed there was no room for arguing. Two of our team were too pathetically weak to carry on.

Silently, I climbed the nearest tree, all the way until I was nestled in the topmost branches, feeling the sway and the light of the stars on my skin.

I supposed I should shut my eyes and rest as well, but after a moment, it became clear that the others weren’t resting just yet.

I heard them first, soft sighs and shifting and then moans.

They were ridiculous.

Did they think of nothing else?!

Never had I been so frustrated by something as basic as sex , but in the past, it had never felt like it was getting in the way.

The way these four acted was like it was more important than anything else. In the shadows, when I could only watch, I had wondered if it was the tether that made them want each other. I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that their drive to make love was powerful and the more they did it, the deeper their bonds grew.

And the more our strength grew.

Batu Sun, the great noc killer , cried out into the night, his pleasure apparent in his voice. What would the humans say if they knew he liked to do more with nocs than kill them ? I mused.

Normally, I turned away, but despite myself, this time I peered down between the branches.

From my spot, I could not make them out.

I had seen them all entangled once–when they had first escaped from Black Lantern. They had no way of seeing me then. This time they did.

I tried to ignore the sounds but couldn’t and after a minute, I gave in, quietly creeping a little bit lower down the trees until I could see.

My breath caught in my throat.

Batu Sun was laid out bare, his legs parted in the moss and brambles. Kiar was between them, one of his cocks buried deep.

Clem was bent over Sun’s cock, licking his length the way a kitten sipped milk and Bracken fed his big cock between Batu Sun’s willing lips.

He was the central point, each of them taking pleasure from his soft human body. It should have disgusted me... but it didn’t.

It didn’t seem wrong the way it had when I had not had a body yet. That time, when I had watched, as nothing more than a shadow, I had thought them all pathetic and weak, but now there was a difference. Now, I had my own body, my own cock, my own baser desires. Now I understood.

Batu Sun was like a forbidden fruit. He looked succulent and tempting and he was willing–with them , anyway.

I did not want to fuck him, but my body suddenly did.

I shut my eyes and crept back up where I could no longer see them. That did not stop their cries of pleasure from reaching my ears.

When Batu Sun cried out his release, my cock leaked precum as though it was involved. In the open air, there was nothing to satisfy my large length. I refused to touch myself or take pleasure from this, so I clenched my fists and waited for them to finish.

When they were finally silent, I shut my eyes and forced myself to rest.