108Chapter 53
The two mages circled each other, both glaring at the other. Darian had another globe of fire in his hand and a mysterious globe full of wind. Jaymin couldn't guess at the purpose of such a small globe; it was too small to create a tornado out of it to distract Jaymin with. This was something he should be wary of because it was something he was unfamiliar with. He eyed Darian warily, just as the man himself threw his fireball at Jaymin. The king widened his eyes and moved out of the way not a second too soon. It escaped him by a hair's breath.
While the king was distracted by what he had done, Darian threw the ball of wind at Jaymin's feet. The moment it touched the ground, Darian swung his hands into a circular motion. It immediately began growing bigger and bigger, picking up dirt and things along the way. At the eye stood Jaymin. He was hopelessly bound by the wind; he couldn't move because of it. If Jaymin moved an inch in any direction, the harsh texture of the wind would simply rip his skin out and leave him as bare as a newly made baby. Now Jaymin knew what Darian had planned to do with it. It was powerful and deadly. The king began to sweat.
Darian grinned savagely at him. "How does it feel to have your own medicine thrown back at you?" He asked harshly. "This is no less what he felt. I know what he felt, because he was mine. Mine! You killed my mate!"
The king couldn't help it, he laughed to see Darian's face full of despair. Darian's eyes shone an unnatural light. He was close to losing his mind because of it. Why? Why did this have to happen with every single man he fell in love with? First Galen, now Calen. They all died eventually. All because of the sick minds of people like Jaymin and Branfin. He couldn't stand it anymore; he had to end it soon. But he would make Jaymin suffer in pain, like he did to Calen, before the man died.
Darian called up another globe of fire, cradling it in his hands for a moment before tossing it into the whirlwind that surrounded the king. Jaymin turned pale. It would get hot very fast with fire tossed into it; he would roast alive. Darian stared coldly at him. "Suffer, as you made Calen suffer."
Jaymin panicked, he tried retaliating against the magical barrier but he simply couldn't best Darian at his angriest and most vengeful mood; Darian was too strong. Jaymin tried casting a water spell but it got dispelled by the wind. The whirlwind blew it away. When he tried countering his whirlwind with a making of his own, his was simply too weak to hold against the one that kept him within it. He was desperate; he made a move against Darian himself, making the dark elementals of the death realm go after Darian. To Jaymin's surprise, Darian had already prepared himself for the onslaught of demons, kappas and whatnots. How could the man have known? Darian sneered at him.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Darian snarled at him. "Ever heard of mage sensing? Maybe that's why you're a good mage, but not good enough. You don't have the gift of mage sensing do you? It's the most important part to being a mage, because if you ever have a battle like this one, you can anticipate your enemy's moves. Which I have done."
"And your playing time is up," Darian told him, looking at the sun and looking back at Jaymin, raising a hand up as he did so. The whirwind of fire crept ever closer to him. Jaymin could only stare in fear as it did so. He let out a small whimper. It was so close. And then it began touching his skin. Jaymin screamed. It was so painful. Fire burning away at his skin and and the combination of the whirlwind spinning it fast, around and about his body. It scoured the flesh away instantly, leaving only his inner parts for Darian's eyes. Blood started pouring out of the big wounds. It was all Jaymin could do to keep himself upright to hold on to his dignity as a King. Darian snarled at him at the challenge. The fire burned hotter and the whirlwind begun spinning faster. Soon the whirlwind was a wall of red, sucking in the blood and keeping it in its vortex, obscuring Darian's view of Jaymin's demise. The king screamed many times and very long that day, before he died.
After some time, when Darian was sure that there would be no more remnants of Jaymin being alive, he dispelled his whirlwind of fire. It disappeared instantly and the blood it was holdling was suddenly free to fall to the ground with a huge splat. Darian didn't care about the blood, instead, he looked to the bed where Calen's body was, still tied up to the bedposts. He took a deep breath and made his way over, untying his body from it and lifting him away from the bed. Calen's body was buck naked and there was bruises and cuts all over his body. And Darian also saw that he had been raped before he died. He had felt it when the king had taken Calen. It had not been a pleasant experience. None of what Jaymin had done was pleasant.
Darian did not cry like he did before. Instead, he took in a shaky breath, still looking at Calen's strangely peaceful face and untied his cloak to cover his body with it for decency and for Calen. He had to take him back to the castle. He would bury Calen in the gardens; it was his favorite place, he should be buried there. Darian took careful leaden steps out of the building and onto his horse. Jestier, his horse, did not like the smell of blood, but he carried Darian and Calen back to the castle.
The Castle was strangely deserted on the outside. Garden sheers were left on a patch of grass, a basket was left under a tree. All these Darian noted within a corner of his mind, as if taking note of all that was happening while he was still grieving on the inside. It was ironic. Shouldn't he be crying and thinking something dark instead?
At the threshold, Darian got off the horse, still holding onto Calen's body and opened the great doors with his right shoulder. There was activity inside. All the servants and slaves appeared to have congregated in the great hall, as well as the nobles in that were staying in Castle Zionen. All of whom looked instantly at Darian when the doors opened. There was instant silence. Darian could not look at any of them. How could he? When he could have prevented this by simply telling Calen that he would be staying within sight of him, no matter the case? He had left that morning. And he came back a broken man.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Darian saw somebody stepping out of the crowd. He turned his head to see who it was. It was Alric, looking wide-eyed, stunned and utterly heart broken at the sight of what Darian held in his arms. Alric met his gold eyes with Darian's amethyst ones.
"Who killed him?" Alric said simply.
"Jaymin, King of Makri," Darian told him tonelessly. "He's dead. By my hands."
Alric made his way towards Darian who took a step back from him. Alric froze instantly, watching Darian as if he was watching a rabbit. Darian shook his head and moved towards a side door to the right. People who were in the way moved away from him, giving him room to walk. He didn't even notice, not caring about them right now. What he wanted to do right now was clean Calen's body of any signs of what had happened. Darian knew what had been done to him; it was enough that he knew. His people did not need to see what had been done to his beloved.
Darian carried him to their room and he laid Calen's body there, uttering a spell that would preserve the body until the day of his funeral. He then sat beside it and used what spells he knew to make the bruises and cuts disappear, along with signs of his rape. When he was done, he looked like Calen again. Like the Calen he knew. Darian had to remind himself not to cry. He couldn't. Not right now. It would be too much and no one had to see him utterly broken. Darian got up and got out Calen's favorite clothes, dressing his body up in it.
Just as he was done, a knock sounded at the door. Alric came in without his permission, but Darian did not care anymore. Alric went to the bed and looked down at Calen, his face full of grief.
"D-do you want me to get a c-coffin?" Alric said through his tears.
Darian shook his head. "He never liked confined spaces. He'll be buried in the gardens, with just a shroud to accompany him."
"When he came here," Alric said in a whisper, "He looked so panicked and stubborn and resentful. No one knew why but he told us later. He was so naive in sweet - he didn't know that people actually cared for him. No one told him. We were afraid that if we gave the gift to him, he would reject. It wasn't that we were afraid of him, but we were afraid that he would do something drastic. He was like a colt waiting to be scared stiff by something unexpected. We could see that he was unused to shows of affection."
"And he had the misfortune to fall in love with me," Darian said tonelessly. "Galen died. Now he's dead. Both by the same type of people. Just once..."
"Life is never fair," Alric said. "And the gods are fickles."
Darian turned on him, his face full of grief, silent tears spilling down his cheeks and he didn't know that they were. "If they had even cared for me they would have left him to live!" He all but shouted. "They're both dead. Dead. And there's nothing I could do about it. I want him back. Always, so little time."
"Will you end your own life then?" Alric asked him softly.
"End my life?" Darian said, laughing sharply. "The thought has occured. Only it wouldn't solve anything would it? No. I will grieve and I'll never take another one again in my life. I don't want to see another one die again. I wouldn't be able to bear it."
They were both silent.
"When will you bury him?" Alric asked in a soft voice.
"At sunrise," Darian said, after staying silent for a long time, long enough that Alric had been thinking that he wouldn't answer it.
"We'll be there," Alric told him, and left the room, closing the door silently behind him.
Darian sat beside Calen's body for a very long time. Years later, he would still remember how Calen's face looked like dead. It would haunt his sleep and it was a constant reminder to him of what would happen should he take another into his life. He would be lonely, but at least one would be saved because of his choice.
END PART 1 -
Continue? End?
THIS IS WHERE I ASK...DO YOU WANT ME TO STOP? I KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN...DO YOU?
A/N: I will be posting the next part in, I suppose I'll call it Redemption or some such. You'll see it.