Chapter 28: Birthday

*Gasp!*

Sairek woke up with a sudden intake of breath, jerking slightly at the suddenness of his consciousness coming back to him. He was jolted awake by his dream. Instinctively, he reached his arm around, wrapping it around Cyial’s sleeping form to avoid disturbing him. He went to cup himself gently between his legs to feel what he already knew since he could feel it, but he still needed to confirm it himself.

“Dammit, not yet again…” He whispered to himself in frustration.

Very slowly and gently, over the course of a minute, he moved himself to slide out of the bed to not disturb Cyial from his sleep. A difficult thing since the demon always used his chest as a pillow and more or less cuddled up against him. Due to the usual heat of the summer days though, they had opted to stop using a blanket. Cyial was warm enough for him anyways.

When he got out of the bed successfully, he awkwardly tip-toed himself and gently closed the door behind him to the little bathroom. There wasn’t much in here, not even a shower. Just a toilet, a small sink and a small face mirror along the wall. Sairek searched in the dark for the light switch and flicked it on, immediately closing his eyes as he was blinded and his eyes threatened to water due to their sensitivity.

Over the course of the next minute, he blinked his eyes open until he could see, and then pulled his undergarments down to investigate the state of himself. It was still hot, throbbing, and leaking a clear substance. He sighed. He didn’t understand what was happening or why. This was a problem on an almost daily basis ever since those demons took him in Lamen with varying amounts of discomfort. It was almost the same type of dream every night, they were getting more vivid now. Rarely, it was of the time of the demons having done stuff to him, but those had begun to fade away. Instead, they were now mostly of Cyial and himself, usually in a state of undress, in similar situations they have already been in. Either of Cyial teasing him, which did embarrass him, or the time they were showering together in the monastery, or even when they took baths together.

Did those demons do something to him that even Cyial was unaware of? What was happening with his male anatomy? Yes, it swelled at times, he knew that and Cyial had told him so in the showers that one time that it could happen by being excited for many reasons, including seeing another person naked, but… to dream this much? Every night? And what was this sticky stuff leaking out almost every time?

He’d been trying to hide it and joking mostly, with Cyial, but the truth of the matter was that he was very ignorant of what was actually going on with himself and did not know if something was possibly wrong. He couldn’t even relieve his bladder right now. It just wasn’t coming out for whatever reason. It felt like he needed to go, and normally he should be able to relieve his bladder just fine...
Should he wake up Cyial and talk about it? It was embarrassing, but he also knew Cyial wouldn’t judge him. Who else was he going to ask? He wasn’t about to ask Fuyiki, that’s for sure.

“Aggghhh…!” Sairek groaned out in frustration as he shoved his undergarments back up—a bit painfully. Turning the light back off, he opened the door back into the room and tip-toed back to the bed. He inhaled a deep breath, and gently knelt down on the floor next to the bed and moved an arm to Cyial’s shoulder, gently shaking him.

To Cyial’s credit, his eyes opened almost immediately, yet was not startled. Instead, a look of confusion etched into his face, or what the Prince could make out with the demon’s garnet eyes glowing in the dark. “Sairek…?” He mumbled, laying himself up off of his side and propping himself up on one elbow. “Hnn...? Sairek... What time is it…?”

“Uh... very, very early.”

“Well, it looks like it’s past midnight. Happy birthday, Sairek.”

He blinked. He had forgotten about it. He was twelve-years-old now...

“Um… Th-Thanks. Cyial, I uh, I need to ask a... personal favor..."

"...Yes?"

"I can’t… pee.”

“...Huh??”
Cyial moved to sit himself more upright, using one knuckle to wipe the sleep from his eyes as he blinked a couple times. “Um, did the toilet break?”

“...No.”

Cyial wiped his other eye with his knuckle, then blinked at Sairek a few times, his look demanding an explanation.

“Cyial... can you… promise not to laugh at me? Or… tease me?”

“Of course? What is going on, Sairek? You’re acting strange.” Cyial murmured.

Sairek sighed and slowly stood up, and if Cyial had any sleep left in him, it would have left him when the Prince pulled down his underwear to show him his current state. Cyial’s eyes widened and blinked twice in reaction as he flailed upright, startled. “S-Sairek! What the—!?”

The Prince immediately blushed and pulled his undergarments back up to hide himself. “S-Sorry! I just—”

“Well no, just a little warning would have been nice instead of indirect foreshadowing like that…! Um... So you can't pee because...?”

“Lands…” Sairek groaned, squeezing his eyes shut as he timidly pulled them back down. He couldn’t see Cyial’s own eyes on him, but he sure felt them.

And Cyial was making sure to take the sight in, despite himself. However, his friend was obviously distressed, but he couldn’t see why. His hunger abruptly rose inside of him. He forced it back down, surprising even himself with the force. He wanted to be as clinical about this as possible and not take advantage of his friend’s vulnerability in the current moment.
Swallowing dryly, he looked Sairek over, and forced himself to look up at Sairek’s face. “Well, you need to let it go down, or else the passageway becomes blocked. It, uh, looks perfectly otherwise.”

“But every other night I wake up with this sticky stuff leaking from it and when I do it gets harder to… go!” Sairek exclaimed. “Ever since those demons took me, I keep having weird dreams and I wake up like this and it’s getting worse every night…!”

Cyial’s face colored a little. He felt his hunger sniffing with extreme interest. This was not going to be easy. “Right, okay… I understand the problem now... This—This isn’t exactly the kind of talk I should be giving you. It should be your father’s job, Sairek.”

“We’re… not exactly in a position to ask him. Besides, I would trust you more than him, if I’m being honest...” Sairek mumbled. “Did those demons do something to me?”

“What? No–!” Cyial blinked, letting go of Sairek’s organ and he raised an eyebrow. “With all the talk about needing to select a princess and stuff, I thought you had already been educated in all of this?”

“All I know is that a boy puts his—his thing inside of a girl and that eventually makes a baby. In my case, the Prince, being me, would have a baby together with whatever mate I ended up choosing whenever we became of proper age, assuming we... got along with each other, because that baby becomes the next heir to the throne.” Sairek gestured with a desperate wave of his hand, as if that was helping him explain his circumstances more clearly.
“Any child born after that becomes next in line, in case something happens to me or it becomes their turn, and the process starts again when that Prince or Princess becomes of age. That’s—That’s all I know…” Sairek groaned. "You know how Ceareste is... Many of the traditions are incredibly old, so..."

Cyial slowly lowered his head and closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his left index finger and thumb.
So they never taught him the mechanics of the process of his own biology—just how a new heir was more or less conceived and chosen... Sairek knew what his biology was for and could do, but nothing between the “how” it works or the “why”, or what the changes happening in his body at this age were.

Fuyiki was right. What were the people at the castle thinking?

“...Right. Yeah, okay. So, first, keep your voice down. You’re beginning to shout and it’s the middle of the night and these walls aren't exactly thick...” Cyial cautioned him dryly.

“S-Sorry...”

“Secondly, for the love of Yggdrasil, please pull up your underpants.”

“Ack! S-Sorry!” Sairek squeaked, quickly pulling them back up.

Cyial squinted, it did little to hide any of Sairek’s shame, but he continued regardless. “Okay, so, what you are experiencing right now is completely normal and it has nothing at all to do with what the demons tried to do to you. What is happening right now is just proof that you’re growing up and your body is developing and maturing. For some, it may start happening even earlier, some can also start much later. Either way, you are fine, Sairek.”

“Th-Then what is going on with me...?”

Cyial finally lifted his face and released his nose. “You’re really making it hard for me to keep my composure and have my hunger not take over, you know. Teaching you is what it wants—except I’m not sure it would be able to keep its hands to itself.” Cyial stated flatly.

Sairek blinked in confusion. “So this is normal... but your hunger indirectly caused this to happen right now?”

Cyial opened his mouth to deny that instinctively, but he held himself. It… wasn’t entirely impossible, given what happened last night. Just saying 'no' may not be true.
“That’s... an impossible question to answer. There’s a lot of reasons for it to happen. My hunger last night could be one of them to cause you to wake up like this now and what the demons tried to do to you could be another. However, your body simply just maturing is probably the main culprit. In other words; this is puberty. You know what that is, right?”

"I—Well, not as much as I thought, apparently..." Sairek mumbled.

Cyial reached up to Sairek’s shoulders and gently moved him down onto the bed to sit. Sairek awkwardly shuffled over until he sat down.

“Do you want the quick run down, or the full lecture, Sairek?” Cyial sighed.

Sairek thought for a moment. “...What does your hunger want?”

“...A full thorough physical demonstration.” Cyial answered dryly after a brief pause of hesitation.

Sairek gulped at that. “I’ll… just... take the full lecture for now...” He grumbled.

If the hunger inside of Cyial’s head was capable of making noise, it would be growling in dissatisfaction right now. It was pushing thoughts in Cyial’s head in protest. ‘Look at him, he clearly needs the knowledge’, ‘he clearly wants it’, ‘he would enjoy being taught’, ‘it would be the fastest way to show him’.
Cyial fought against those predatory instincts with more common logic of his own. ‘It would scare him’, ‘It would be betraying his trust’, ‘he’s not ready yet’ and finally ‘he has not given permission’.

With a sigh, Cyial moved to first turn on the light to the room so Sairek wasn’t left in mostly darkness. Then, he moved to grab a chair from the tiny table that was next to the side of the bed and pulled it over so he could sit in front of Sairek, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his legs and his hands clasped together. He took a couple moments to think how he should start this impromptu sexual education session with his friend to bring him up to speed so he could stop fretting over these unfamiliar feelings he was having.

Sairek blushed as Cyial was silent and just staring. “Cy-Cyial...?”

“I’m thinking… how to word all of this.” The demon muttered. After another moment of silence, he took a deep inhale. “Okay, let’s start with the ‘sticky stuff’, first," Cyial began. "That stuff is a natural lubricant that makes it easier to… slide it into things. So you can—you know... do the whole mating thing, with less pain for both parties involved.”

"S-So... I am essentially ready to mate with someone, and the stuff that I keep waking up that's soiling my pants and underwear is to prepare for that." Sairek reiterated.

 “Yes, exactly. Your penis is like this, because as you grow older and your body matures, you begin developing hormones.”

“And, what are hormones?” Sairek asked.

“It’s a term to describe various chemicals your body develops that sends messages to other parts of your body. They more or less control how parts of your body grow and work.” Cyial explained. “They influence a lot of things, including how you grow, like eventually how your shoulders and chest should broaden over time as you get older, which I can see they are already beginning to do so. They can also control how you feel, how you digest food—just… a lot of important functions. Including your… penis.” Cyial said the last word dryly under his breath.

“Uh...huh.” Sairek let out slowly.

“So that explains ‘what’ is happening, so the reason ‘why’ it’s happening is because… um… well, the need to ‘mate and reproduce' is instinctual. All life, from animals, to people to even demons have this instinct to reproduce. For people like us and even some animals, the peak of the breeding act releases dopamine into our brain, and dopamine is what makes us feel good, makes us feel happy and we let out a lot of dopamine at the peak of the act. So much that some people get a little too addicted to it.”

“But… why do I become like... this?” Sairek pressed.

“Because of the hormones, like I said.” Cyial reminded him. “The need to mate is an instinctual desire. While you don’t need it to live like eating or sleeping, it’s just as important as say, entertainment so you’re not bored. You being like this means you are in desperate need to relieve yourself of that desire. It’s perfectly normal Sairek and you should not be ashamed of it happening. Every boy and even every girl experiences the same thing."

"So in a way, it's kind of like your kind of hunger, but... less important."

"Yyyyes," Cyial agreed slowly. "Though for my kind, the need to 'feast' and 'mate' are still two different desires, even if for my kind, they tend to go hand-in-hand fairly often... One is a requirement. The other is merely a desire, though not getting what you desire can still effect your mood. After all, people who are bored, can become easily agitated."

“So… if I want it to stop, I… have to make a baby?” Sairek blushed.

“No, no.” Cyial shook his head. “You just need to… stimulate yourself. Eventually after enough stimulation, you’ll get the release you need and… that’s that. Think of it like tricking your body into believing you're breeding, but you're actually not.”

Sairek blinked slowly at him.

“You’re really… not going to make this easy on me, are you?” Cyial sighed. “Alright, fine… I guess I have to make this fair, then...”


Cyial stood up from the chair and began to undress himself completely. Sairek blushed watching him. Soon Cyial sat down just as bare and naked as he was and Sairek couldn’t avert his gaze. He felt wetness down below again coming anew.

Cyial, still determined to not let his hunger dictate this and still trying to be as clinical as possible for Sairek’s benefit, opted to use himself to demonstrate. He was a bit embarrassed, but not nearly as bashful as the Prince was, though he admitted that Sairek was handling this better than he thought he would. Despite the situation, his anatomy was not in the same state as Sairek’s. As he had just explained to him, the need to feed and the desire to mate were two different things.
He understood how Sairek must be feeling, though. He was just as bashful when Father Abbot had lectured him after all about his functions as an incubus, and he had been even younger than Sairek. Also, Father Abbot had been much more detailed about it too, to make sure Cyial understood the importance of it all. Sairek didn’t have to worry about details about feeding like that, but still, apparently with as sheltered as he was, this all must be very new and confusing to him.

“Just do what I do, grip yours like this just as I am with mine. It should be easier for you since yours currently is a lot... bigger.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Don’t grip it too hard but also not too gently.”

“Okay...”

“Then you just move it up and down like this. That’s it. Go at whatever speed feels best for you, don't be afraid to experiment. Keep doing that, think about whatever gets you excited like... whatever you've been dreaming, and eventually 'it' will happen and you'll be good for a few days. That's it.”

“W-What–! That's all?! This is ridiculous…!”

“You will not be thinking that in the next couple of minutes if you’re doing it properly.” Cyial replied as he let go of himself and rightened his own boxers back up again now that the demonstration was finished.

“L-Lands…” Sairek muttered. He looked away from Cyial, then back at Cyial, then away again.

“...What.” Cyial said, his question lacking a questioning tone.

“I… um…” Sairek stammered.

“You… Are really not going to make this easy for me, aren’t you?” Cyial blinked slowly, a resigned expression on his face. “Stars and stones, Sairek…”

* * *

 

“Ow, dammit!” Varhi hissed out loud to himself as the carriage he had hired to ride in jerked to a sudden stop and he slid forward from one end to the other along the wooden surface. When he pushed his face up from kissing the floor, he growled, opened the double-ended door and peeked his head out the back. Seeing that they were indeed stopped, he climbed out and wandered around the carriage to the front to lecture the driver he had hired. “Oi! What the heck? What did you stop for–?”

The man, a silver-haired merchant, eyed him like he was stupid. The corners of his mouth twitched in what Varhi could only presume was annoyance. “You blind boy? You don’t see what’s up ahead?”

Varhi glanced back ahead to look. His eyes searched around more, then realized why he couldn’t see the problem. It wasn’t that the problem was directly ahead of them, it was directly ahead and above them.
"Hrmm... That’s a hefty pack of Cravenbats all right.” Varhi mused with a hint of genuine concern in his voice.


Cravenbats, along with their not-too-far-distant ancestor "Crowernbats", were very large, bat-like creatures, which had a single leg that was almost like a tail that formed below their body which held a single foot that was like a bird's talons, except... well, really big.

And sharp...

And powerful...

Cravenbats took after ravens, mutated into monster, and Crowernbats took after crows. On either creature, such talons was more than strong and large enough to grab someone and hold them steadily in place. With Cravenbats though, they could extend electricity from their body into those talons, shocking them with electricity if needed often to paralyze their prey in quite a painful fashion. The electricity could even be released as a pulse for a ranged attack, rendering its target immobile as large voltages of electricity pinned them stiff, as it moved in for easier access to grab hold. In the mean time, the Cravenbat’s beak would be more than happy to take a big chomp out of your head or just about any other part of you it could reach while you were rendered helpless within its grip. It wasn’t a problem for the bats themselves to just outright lift you up, carrying any victim up off the ground as they flew you back to their nest to feed their young ones. The bats in general were big too. Usually six feet in height minimum, some reached a little larger. Eight, or nine feet wasn’t impossible. The Crowernbats had no electricity to worry about, and were a bit slower, but tended to be larger and bulkier to deal with.

One Cravenbat could be dealt with, maybe even two at, but there were three circling about. That was a problem...
Oh wait, no, there was a fourth one that just rose up over the horizon... It was just carrying some other animal with it. Looked like a wolf, fox or perhaps a coyote by the scruff of its neck.

“Looks like they’re hunting for sure.” Varhi stated the obvious. “It will only be a couple of minutes before they notice the horses and us. Cravenbats really like horses..."

“Well I’m getting out of here then!” The merchant proclaimed.

“Oi, don’t go too far. I still need that ride to Karvadean Mountains.” Varhi reminded him. "You screw me on our payment deal and I'm going to be pissed and bounty hunt you down myself."

“Screw the ride! We need to get out of here!”

“Hush, hush. I’ll take care of them. Just wait a safe distance away. If I’m not back within fifteen minutes, then assume I am dead and you can go without me with no personal vendetta bounty hunt on you if you bail.” Varhi mused as he reached into his satchel, searching inside of it, making sure his 'ace' was ready if he needed it at a moment's notice. After making sure that was indeed in place and ready to grab if he needed it, he began searching deeper inside of it.

"Are you nuts? You're only, what, twelve?" The man asked.

"Uh-huh." Varhi hummed positively. He didn't know if he was actually that young, but well, that was Jimmy's estimate, so he just went along with it. His voice hadn't completely dropped yet in any case; it was probably a safe estimate.

“Kid, you’re crazy. There’s no way you can take those on by yourself.”

“Well, there’s never any guarantee about anything, but I certainly do try my best.” Varhi replied casually as he pulled out his steel visor that used to be a part of a standard issued knight's helmet. Such a full helmet was far too heavy for his liking, even if he had one fitted down for his size. Wearing a full helmet also limited his field of vision, so he opted to just re-purpose the visor and modify it a little to wear it securely onto his head instead. That offered him some moderate protection to the head but it also did not limit his movements from the weight or ability to see either. It was also cheaper and…
...well, he thought it just looked more cool. Image was also important.

He slipped it securely on his head. It was triangular in shape and would serve to protect him from overhead swings aiming for his skull usually, though it could prove useful here if any of those Cravenbats tried to grab for his face from the front. All he'd have to do is angle his face down and they'd grab the visor instead of him.

Armored up, he reached behind his back and grabbed at the sheath for his sword hidden mostly from view under his cape and he pulled it out. Normally, a greatsword was quite encumbersome which would be difficult to wield even for an adult given the size under normal circumstances. Varhi however made sure to have this sword made with much of its weight reduced without sacrificing most of the durability or sharpness, and of course, tailored for his size given the fact he wasn't even a teenager, at least not just yet. It was pretty much where all of his budget had went that wasn't spent on absolute necessities, like food or lodging.

Varhi had blueprinted the design carefully, and had the sword made in a way that it was basically formed with three coated layers.
The first layer was that of mythril which was slightly hollowed out to further reduce weight, then reinforced for durability with a thin layer of crystal that was liquidized, then rehardened over top of that first mythril layer to make the second later, then coated with steel on top of the crystal itself to give back its sharpness look and outer shell durability for longevity.
This reduction of weight, combined with the fact that he did make sure to keep his body in top physical form made sure he was able to swing the weapon fast with moderate ease, but it’s reduced weight and having a large flat surface area could also be made to block attacks as well. As aggressive in combat as Varhi knew himself to be, he wasn’t so aggressive that he was hopelessly brash.
Offense truly was the best defense, but being offensive to the blissful ignorance of your own safety and well-being was a surefire way to get yourself killed extremely quickly in this line of work.

Well, admittedly, using his sword as the equivalent of a giant mutated bird swatter was not his forté, but that didn’t mean he was bad at it.


Varhi swung the hefty sword twice in the air, hearing the satisfying and high pitched ‘whoosh’ it made with both swings. He glanced back behind him, seeing the carriage taking off to get out of the way as he had ordered, heading back to over the crest of a hill they had already passed previously. Varhi turned his head back ahead and moved forward several yards, walking his way over the path to approach the small cluster of bats ahead of him. When he got close enough, he let loose a high-pitched whistle to grab the beasts' attention.

Their reaction was nearly instant. They altered their flight patterns, swooping, high-pitched and gargled cawing noises rising from them at new potential prey being spotted. Varhi shifted his stance, right foot behind him and left leg in front, holding most of his weight as he moved his sword ready, the tip of the sword just barely touching the ground as he held it at his right side, the inner blade resting ready near his right hip and both hands clutching at the handle of his weapon just in front of his lap.

One swooped in a moment later, moving fast. Varhi clutched his sword tighter and tensed his muscles. The bat attacked just like he had predicted. It reached out with its talons to grab right at his chest. Varhi spun around with his blade, moving behind and to his right to evade the swoop, the first half being a 180-degree spin.
Using the momentum he collected from pivoting around, he moved his arms to swing with his blade, the tip of the sword scraped up a cloud of dust as it trailed along the ground of the dirt pathway as he swung straight upward. The blade, which moved faster than the bat itself was moving allowed Varhi to cleave it cleanly straight through into nearly two clean halves, and would have, had the blade been longer. The bat split from the bottom middle up to its stomach crashing into the ground and causing it to ooze a deep crimson blood from both sections as it let out a dying screeching wail that gargled into a death rattle.

Varhi however did not stop his motion, spinning around still with the momentum with his sword and previous swing still leaving his greatsword overhead, just as a second bat had swooped towards him. Varhi pivoted back around to face ahead of the other incoming bats. He threw the sword back downwards in a large overhead swing as this bat too aimed to grab him by the chest. Varhi put as much force and effort into the swing as he could.

He beat it. The blade crashed down over top of it and slammed halfway through it as the force of the swing crashed it down onto the ground from its low flight with a sickening splatter. Surprisingly, it didn't kill the creature as he felt it writhing underneath him, though it was harmlessly incapacitated and would probably die in the next couple minutes from the wound.
Varhi from the effort of his swing was now knelt down onto the ground on one knee. He pushed his weight to his right with all of his forced letting out an exerted grunt, rolling sideways as a pulse of incoming lightning released from a third bat, which shot out and landed harmlessly just where he had been, leaving a small area of white and silver-blue electricity that was quickly grounded out. The fourth bat which had been carrying the animal (it turned out it was a wolf) at some point had dropped the corpse on the ground and both remaining bats swooped closer, beginning to circle around him on opposite ends, flapping and cawing at him with clear hostile intent.

This was what Varhi had been concerned about. All it would take was one to attack and then the other would simply get him from behind and that would be it for him. Quickly, Varhi stood up while moving his sword towards his right side as he dug into his satchel to search for his 'ace' with his left. He could throw with either hand; he practiced so he could use either hand effectively for combat rather than having a dominant one. Finding the item he gripped it into his left hand and waited.

His knowledge of Cravenbat tactics proved useful as again, just as he had predicted, one circled towards his front and moved to swoop in…

Varhi then threw his 'ace' item— a pot lid. He gripped it out of his satchel and tossed it with all of his strength at the bat.

He couldn’t blame the creature for letting out a confused squawk as it flapped its wings to try and steer itself out of the way. It avoided it mostly, though the lid Varhi threw like it was a disk still clipped one of its wings and while it didn’t lose flight entirely, it had lost its balance and angle of attack. That wasn't an ideal outcome, but it was good enough.

Varhi took the time while that one was distracted to turn around, using the flat of his blade to block the beak that was attempting to chomp his head cleanly off from behind. There was a clang as the beak collided with his sword. That didn’t seem to dissuade the Cravenbat much at all though, as instead it attacked again by opening its beak wide and gripping both sides of Varhi’s sword by the sharp ends of the blade. It began to attempt to wrestle the weapon from him outright.

“H-Hey–!” Varhi barked angrily as he was jerked forward from its tugging, his steel, silver greaves kicking a cloud of dirt as he skidded along the dirt ground a few inches. He fought back by tugging back on the sword himself, dragging the creature back towards him as they wrestled back and forth. Varhi pulled again and when the creature jerked towards him as a result, Varhi counterattacked by thrusting his head forward, using the helmet visor on his head to headbutt the blasted beast right in the face, then he tugged again to pull it back towards him once more while it was busy recoiling from getting a face full of steel helmet. It was still refusing to let go and thus, was pulled forwards. Varhi relinquished the grip of his sword with his right hand and reached out with his left hand to instead grab the bat by its throat as much as he could and squeezed hard in a brutal clench.

It had the effect he wanted as it croaked out a squawk and its grip on his sword released. Still gripping its throat, Varhi roared in great effort as he tossed the beast with just his left hand from where it still flapped in the air down towards the ground in a slam, wings flailing in an attempt to recorrect itself. Varhi then lifted his sword up with both hands before the bat could right itself to get away, Varhi skewered the sword right through its open and squawking beak with a downward thrust. The gurgle and writhing as its life left it was satisfying to him.

“There you go... Fade away softly in your own failure.” Varhi growled angrily. “This, sword, is, mine.”

Varhi's victory was interrupted as he abruptly barked out a quick cry in pain and he felt a scratching and clawing feeling coming from behind, right into his back. The grip his hands on his sword, skewered into the bat below wasn't enough to keep a hold as he was suddenly thrust forwards and then almost immediately yanked up off the ground and into the air.

Ah right... there was that fourth one he had only stunned.

Well, shit. This was annoying...

Varhi looked down with a huff, seeing he was indeed climbing steadily higher and higher up. Rapidly. Still, he wasn’t exactly concerned about his current predicament for the moment though. Instead, he took the opportunity he had at the moment to survey the ground below him, searching.

“Aha, there's where my pot lid went.” He spoke to himself, voice slightly strained at the pained discomfort coming from his back as he surveyed his surroundings from the air. Now all he had to do was go and retrieve it. And to do that, he had to get down.

Reaching into the right side of his belt, he grabbed his letter opener. He gripped it with both hands as he moved to stab behind and above himself as best as he could. He heard the bat carrying him off squawk in pain, but it still carried him, so Varhi did it again twice more, stabbing it in its leg, but the thing was refusing to let go.

Since stabbing wasn’t working, he instead twisted himself as best as he could and swung the knife instead, mimicking the same angle of attack into a slash. This time it screeched loudly, and Varhi felt himself abruptly plummeting. He braced himself as much as he could, but falling twenty-five or so feet when you’re half dressed in leathers, half platemail, and a chain shirt on top of that still made for a very rough fall. Not even his boots were going to help him with this one.

“OOMPH–!” He felt himself let out as he thudded to the ground. He distributed the weight best as he could, but it was still a hard landing and he ended up half on his side and half on his back looking up at the sky in a sprawled landing. The cravenbat which had tried to steal him off wisely opted to just cut its losses and began to retreat away, presumably back to its nest to nurse its wounds and pride.

“Uuuhnggh…” Varhi groaned, sitting himself upright and shaking his head a little with his left hand bracing his visor against his head so it didn't shake off of him. “Damn... that fall hurt!” He seethed. His muscles and bones ached considerably, but nothing that wouldn’t heal by the time the day was done. And thankfully he wouldn't have to walk. Unless that bastard bailed on him...

Reaching over, he picked up his letter opener off the ground, giving it a few quick slashes into the air to flick the blood off of it before he sheathed it back into his belt, then he painfulled picked himself up and somewhat limped back to his sword, doing the same thing to rinse the blood off. Varhi then journeyed further forward to pick up his thrown pot lid. He examined it. It had been dented a few times from use at this point, but it still held strong and was still together and just clipping a creatures wing like that and landing on grass several yards away left it no further worse for wear. He pocketed it back into his satchel and then sheathed his sword as well. Walking back to the carriage with a slight stagger as his legs ached, he spotted the carriage on top of the crest of a hill they had already passed.

“They’re all gone now.” Varhi commented as he approached the merchant. “Just be wary to steer around the corpses I left on the road.”

The man eyed him suspiciously.

Varhi stated back. “...What?”

“...Seriously? A pot lid?” The man drawled. "Since when did you add that to your arsenal?"

“What–?” Varhi asked again, stressing the word out and in a defensive tone this time. “Why does everyone always look at me like that? It works! And it only cost me one seru!”

The merchant just raised an eyebrow at him.

“Well, you tell me who would want to get hit in the face by a large disk of cast iron!” Varhi huffed. Pain seemingly forgotten by this humilation, he seamlessly pivoted around on the ball of one metallic greave to look out upon the open fields, cupping his hands close to his face as he shouted towards the three dead mutated bird/bat corpses on the ground. “Hoi! Anybody who is out there, if you are excited to be hit in the face by a pot lid, please raise either your wings or hands~!”
Varhi’s voice echoed back to him as he exaggeratedly looked around. He feigned a sound of wounded emotion after a few seconds when was predictably hit with the returned silence. He pivoted around on the ball of his right heel to face the merchant who dared to criticize his methods as he held his chest with his left hand as if mortally wounded in the chest, yet spoke in a tone dripping of heavy sarcasm. “Ugh, seriously… nobody?! Why, I’ve never felt so insulted in my entire life! Who would dare miss such an exquisite opportunity–?! Shocker!”

The man just continued to stare at him.

Varhi tilted his head as he held his stance, pressing the man to respond.

“Just—Just get in.” The man sighed. “I’d rather we not stay here any longer if you don’t mind.”

Varhi puffed out a breath. “Man, why does nobody understand me?” He whined in an exaggerated tone, causing the man to roll his eyes and shake his head at the boy. Varhi dragged himself with his feet to the back of the carriage to climb inside once more. When he was seated back inside, he knocked twice hard with his gloved fist behind him into the wall he was resting against twice. Seconds later, he jerked forward when they began to move again.

Well, this ride wouldn’t get him all the way to Karvadean… it wouldn’t even get him halfway, but it was better than nothing, even if he had to slay a few beasties along the way, being able to just kick back and relax for the ride was better than walking, he thought.

Then the cart bumped up and he slammed his head onto the roof of the cart as one of the wheels rode over one of the bats he had slain. “Ow, dammit!”

It wouldn't have hurt so much if he hadn't forgotten to taken off his visor helmet—

"Agh—Son of a bitch! Belgarion you—GAH!"

That bastard was riding over the corpses on purpose...

 

* * *

 

Sairek yawned and stretched as he awoke for the second time this day. This time, instead of being greeted by darkness though, morning sunlight instead was already beaming through the window. A pleasant sight from usually being woken up before it had even risen because he had to run several laps around the town.

Also this time, the dreams he had been peaceful. He awoke, comfortable, at ease and relaxed without straining the cotton of his pants.

He rolled his head to look at Cyial. Unlike usual, he was no longer using his chest as a pillow. He must have slumped off at some point in his sleep. Instead he was laying next to Sairek with his back facing him, head laying against his upper arm for a pillow instead.

Sairek smiled gently, and also gently moved himself up from under Cyial, replacing his arm slowly with a pillow and letting Cyial rest his head on it instead. He slid up out of the bed and once again made his way to the bathroom, repeating the motions of earlier this morning, except this time without the trouble he had before.

Sairek washed his hands again as well as his face, then took a moment to look at himself in the mirror, standing on the tips of his toes so he could even see himself. He then used his fingers to brush his hair back into place as he examined himself.

Usually every year, he didn’t feel much older, but after the events of this morning, that was much different. He felt years older, and ever since he had left the castle, he ironically, had felt the youngest he ever had at the same time. It was a bit... weird.

He was reminded of what Laure had told him many days ago. He was growing up and his childhood was not going to last forever. She was right, of course...

Sairek inhaled a breath. He was a child, and would not stay as one forever. Even right now, he was on the transformation one took into becoming an adult... So he was going to enjoy every moment he had left of it. Nothing was going to rob him of that time anymore and nothing was going to decide what he could or could not do any longer. Not his father, not his responsibilities, not his throne, not his country. He was his own free person and he had that right to decide for himself, just as he wished his own subjects to do for themselves.

Who was anyone to judge him? He was young yes, but that was the thing—he should be allowed to play and be allowed to have fun every once in a while. Of course him being young didn’t mean he couldn’t just pretend his responsibilities did not exist; his age did not excuse him of that, but they did not define who or what he was or what he should be allowed to do.

Sairek stepped out of the bathroom and looked to see Cyial rolling over just in time to open his eyes to greet him. “Hey…” his friend greeted him.

“Morning, Cyial.”

Cyial slowly pushed himself upright to sit again, rubbing his eyes just like he did earlier this morning, but with more sleep this time, he was much faster. When he was done, he looked Sairek over and blinked. “Hm? Something seems different with you.”

“Like?”

“Well, you’re up by yourself and smiling for one.” Cyial observed. "Did last night put you in that good of a mood?"

"W-Wha..." Sairek stammered. "Cyial!"

"Relax. I'm just joking. But... I shouldn't joke about that. I'm sorry." Cyial apologized.

"N-No... It's okay. It was... y'know..." Sairek mumbled the last part, glancing away embarrassed. "...Relieving." He managed to finish dryly.

"In more ways than one, I imagine." Cyial answered seriously. "Well, if it's not that, then what's got you perked up?" Cyial pressed.

“It’s my birthday.” Sairek answered, a smile hinted at the corner of his lips.

“You told me before that you hated your birthday.”

“But I am excited about today for once!” Sairek said brightly. “Nobody is around to throw more responsibilities on me. No worthless ‘party’ with people I hardly know congratulating me without meaning it, no being handed gifts that don’t mean anything, only just to impress… I can just do what I want... I can go do what I want, I can be with who I want...!”

Cyial blinked in surprise at him but he also smiled at his enthusiasm and attitude. “Have you thought of something you want to do, then?”

“N-No," Sairek admitted. "But discovering in itself can be fun. We haven’t even properly explored the town yet. Worst case scenario, we have another picnic. I want you to show me more fantastic and different foods.”

“A picnic? You haven’t even had breakfast yet have you? Why don’t we start with going out for breakfast first?”

“Ah, heh, right. Good idea.”

Cyial chuckled, pushing himself up out of bed. “I guess we better get ready, then.”

Sairek nodded, moving to get himself dressed in his clothes, while Cyial took his own turn going into the bathroom to do his own business.

He followed the same routine Sairek had done only moments earlier, including looking at himself in the mirror—or at least attempting to. However, he was too short to even be able to see, even standing as tall as he could.

He grumbled a bit dejectedly, and simply guessed where his hair should be. When he stepped out, Sairek was already dressed, staff in hand.

“Ready?” Sairek asked, grinning, and even holding his hand out for Cyial, who looked at it and after grabbing his book and tucking it under one arm smiled gently as he took it.

“Yup.”

Cyial lead Sairek over to the door and opened it for him and they stepped through together, to which Sairek cried out in surprise.

 

“Hah, gotcha! I told you I would get out in a few days, didn’t I?”

 

“N-Nayleen!?” Sairek and Cyial cried out in utter surprise together.

“You didn’t think I would miss our Prince's birthday, did you?” She accused them both.

Sairek didn’t answer her. Instead, he moved to wrap his arms around her in a hug, which caused her to stumble back. Even more surprised when Cyial followed suit and moved to hug her as well.

“W-Woah now, what is this?” She demanded with a hesitant laugh.. “I... didn’t you think you two would miss me this much!”

“What do you mean? Of course we would! You are our friend!” Sairek reminded her as he pulled away to look at her. “Why did you have to go and do something and get in trouble alone like that?”

“Eh?”

“Don’t act confused!”

Nayleen shrugged. “I didn’t mean to. I kinda just… did it. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make the both of you worry or miss me. I’ll make sure to keep my temper in check from now on so I don’t break people’s noses who are assholes, 'kay?”

“Did you at least get him good?” Cyial asked, pulling away from her as well, too.

“Oh wow.” Nayleen laughed, surprised at Cyial's response. “Yes I did. I got him real good for you.”

“I forgive you this time, then.” Cyial said with a small smile.

“Geez, you two have changed a lot in the past few days, I’m impressed.” Nayleen noted. "If I didn't know any better, I would have thought I was locked up for years or something."

“A lot has happened between Cyial and I. We’ve… been talking a lot and getting to understand where we’ve come from more and… just knowing I’m not totally useless at magic has improved my self confidence too, I suppose.” Sairek explained. “I think the past few days have been eye openers for the both of us, really. I’ve also learned a lot... and not just about magic.”

“Oh, like what?” Nayleen pressed.

Sairek pushed down the blush that wanted to rise to his face and saved face by replying. “Well, Cyial taught me how to properly swim and I now know how to climb a tree...”

“That last one is a bit of a stretch.” Cyial cut in.

“Quiet, you.” Sairek grumbled.

“I like this new Cyial. He’s cool.” Nayleen grinned.

“Ah, I haven’t changed that much.” Cyial replied modestly and then looked at Sairek, then back to Nayleen. “...Have I changed that much?” He asked, sounding more unsure.

“A bit. You don’t sound so shy and reserved anymore.” Sairek answered. Nayleen nodded her head in agreement.

“Huh.” Cyial let out. “Maybe I have, then…” He mused. “Can you hold this for me for a second, Sairek?” He asked, holding out his book.

“Huh?” Sairek let out questioningly, but he took the book in his free hand regardless.

Cyial moved to grab his robe at the sides, and pulled to straighten the creases out. Sairek looked on, confused at first, until he spotted something moving at the back of Cyial’s robe. Suddenly, the iron tip of his tail ripped through the back, and through this tiny little new opening, Cyial allowed his incubus tail to slither out freely from the robe in full view.

“Cyial?” Sairek asked curiously.

“I’m tired of hiding what I am and pretending to be human when I’m not. I think Nayleen is right, I’ve changed. Some people may not like what I am and that's fine. It doesn't mean I have to cower and hide my nature. It will take a lot of time to accept what I am still... and there will probably still be times where I will loathe what I am... but I can at least start with accepting what I am with this one small step.”

“Thatta’ boy, Cyial!” Nayleen said proudly, placing a hand on top of his head and ruffling his hair a little bit as he smiled a bit nervously. “And if someone insults you for being a demon, I’ll break their nose, too.”

“Let’s not get too rash now… Didn't you just say you would hold your temper?” Cyial chuckled gently, taking his book back as Sairek handed it back to him. “The last thing we need is all three of us to end up detained.”

“Eh, if that happened, Sairek can just bail us out.” Nayleen grinned, wrapping an arm around Sairek’s neck and dragging an arm over his shoulder as she pulled him close.

“Who knows, I might leave you in there again so you can think about the consequences of your actions.” Sairek said in a jesting tone.

“Yeah, right!” Nayleen joked, moving her hand to also ruffle his hair a little too, then she paused briefly. “Man, it’s been so long, I swear you’re an inch or two taller.

“Maybe an inch, but two might be stretching it.” Sairek blushed slightly.

“Stretching it, hm? I think I get it.”

Sairek’s blush deepened immensely. She shot a lot closer to her joke than she realized “Th-That’s not what I—”

“I’m kidding. Still as bashful as ever. At least that didn't change” Nayleen chided, releasing him. “Now how about we have some breakfast together and you catch me up, eh?”

“Yes, ma’am…” Sairek said under his a breath as he tried to regain his composure.

He and Cyial may have changed over the past few days, but Nayleen was still her good old self, just as ever.
Though he would never admit it to her out loud, he actually preferred it that she stay that way—as her good old self.