Immortals - The demon hunt (boyxboy)

Chapter 21

Sweet exhaustion filled Leon's body, as he curled up under the fluffy blanket. Caelan was wrapped around him from behind and one arm got a soft hold of his waist. So protective... Leon had to smile. And at the same time, it saddened him to know, that there would be a moment, when Caelan's strong arms wouldn't be able to protect him. And this would hurt the usually so capable hunter like nothing else.

The faint tickle on his forehead proved, what Leon unconciously had known for quite some time now. This time, there wouldn't be such a huge gap between the appearance of the stigmata. Sure, between his wrists and ankles, there had been some weeks, but as for the wounds on his forehead... they would soon appear, he was sure of that. And when that moment came, he had to make a decision. There would only one stigma be left, the one to his heart. Well yes, according to the christian religion, it should be a stab at his side, but he knew better. Maybe progressing that far in the stigmata process had freed some kind of hidden knowledge inside him or maybe it was simply intuition, but the last wound would pierce through his heart and release the power, that was suppose to recreate the balance between light and darkness.

For a while now, Leon had been wondering what would happen to him, if he let that power take control of him and fulfill his task. The world might be saved by that, but what about him? Would he have to sacrifice himself to save everyone else? A true hero, like those in the fantasy books would surely have chosen to be the savior in an instant. But as a living individual, it wasn't that easy. Whenever Leon thought about his fate, fear rushed through his veins and froze his every movement. How was he supposed to save anything like that?

Just then, Caelan shifted slightly and his arm around Leon's waist tensed, pulling the boy closer to himself. "Cae..." Leon whispered, but he got no answer. Caelan was apparently still asleep. Dreaming maybe... Again, Leon's lips curled into a smile. He couldn't let this man die... not right after he found him and discovered his feelings for him. Maybe it would tear him apart... maybe he would freeze in front of his fate... but somehow he would gather the strength to protect Caelan, just like the hunter had protected so many people up until now. And as he made this decision, his uneasy feelings slowly faded and a strange kind of calmness took hold of him. Maybe the process of making a decision was really the hardest part? As for now... Leon found his peace and slowly drifted away into sleep.

~+~+~+~

As he finally awoke again, it was already close to sunset. His fingers searched the blankets for the touch of Caelan's warm skin, but apparently, the hunter was already up. Not for long though, since a hint of body warmth still remained in the blankets where he had slept. Slowly, Leon pushed himself up and blinked the sleep out of his eyes, before he swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

Almost immediately, a sharp pain pierced through his ankles and he merely supressed a small gasp. Ah, right... it was so easy to forget about the stigmata while his thoughts circled around Caelan. Laughing at his own carelessness, Leon shook his head. Then, as he found his legs strong enough to support himself, he got up and looked around for some clothes.

Apparently, Caelan had already guessed, that Leon wouldn't obediently stay in bed, since there was a clean pair of boxers, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt waiting for him on the dresser. "Thanks for letting me keep my pride..." Leon whispered and smiled. It took him a while to get into the jeans with his legs feeling slightly numb, but finally he managed.

"Hey Cae..." he called out, as he stiffly walked into the kitchen.

"Leon!" Caelan turned around and smiled at him. "I figured, you'd be up soon. I prepared coffee."

"Sounds good to me!" the boy replied and walked over to him. "Will we go to the headquarter tonight?"

"Yes." Caelan agreed. "It might become quite a bit painful for you to hold onto me on the bike, think you can bear it until we're there?"