Hellbeast

11

1056 words

•———————•

Okay so you know how every once in a while you'll make a stupid decision that you'll regret till the end of your days? Well Horus had just gotten out of shifter territory, when he heard a fight happening in an alleyway. Concerned, he peeked his red head over the wall. There, in the narrow path, stood a tall blue (?) man, surrounded by three other men. His nose twitched anxiously as he watched them deliver a blow to his gut, and he huffed. Damn my insufferable kindness.

He strut over, oozing fake-confidence, and slapped the guy on the back. "Hey! Where'd you go man I was looking for you!" The blue man and his group all turned to look at Horus and he almost died had the guy cheekily grinned and thrown an arm around his shoulders. "Sorry. I got stranded." Horus chuckled dryly and tugged the mer away from the punks, daring them to come any closer to his tall stature.

After the rounded the corner, they bolted. A few minutes of panting later, they reached a bridge and the Mer looked over his shoulder. "I think we lost them." He turned to look at Horus, who was barely out of breath. "Thank you, kind stranger." Horus smiled back, albeit dimmer, and peered at the water. "You shouldn't walk around alone. It's dangerous." The guy chuckled heartily, "You a local?" Horus's smile numbed. I've never been a local to anywhere.

They exchanged pleasantries and Horus waved kindly at the guy before turning to leave. Then he grabbed his wrist. "Hey, wait." The mer blinked the drowsiness out of his eyes and frowned. "What did you say your name was?" Horus blinked. "I didn't." Mer huffed, "Well it doesn't matter. He doesn't know his name anyway." Horus blinked, confusion seeping into his brain. "He?"

And so the stranger-to-friend mer told him about his travels with this dragon who was looking for some magical apple man. Horus almost fainted on the spot. I mean, how often is it a redhead with honey colored eyes grows a magical apple tree for a dragon? Pretty often, right? Right? The mer, as is noticing his discomfort, stopped and stared at him, blank faced. "You're him aren't you."

Horus bit back a choked yelp and coughed into his hand. "Uhm, no? I've never met a dragon before." "You're a horrible liar." He deadpanned, still staring into his soul. Horus cried internally. Why can't I be good at just one thing. Horus took a step back, ready to run for it, when the Mer put his hands up in a 'I surrender' notion. "Hey man wait- I just want to know why you're running from him." Horus bit his lip. "I'm not running from him. There's more dangerous things out there besides dragons." And with that, he ran.

He heard the Mer shout anxiously from behind, but he had already made it off the bridge and with one last push of a cosmic amount of energy, he vanished. Teleportation magic was hard, almost unheard of. It was only used by the most powerful of mages, yet Horus had just done it without even thinking. He fell face first into the floorboards. With a groan, he massages him cheek, looking around vaguely confused. The first thing he saw was a painting of a bird. And not just any bird, a bluejay.

•———————•

He realized quickly that Damen wasn't home. All the candles were unlit. The house was cold. Never in his whole stay had he felt anything but warmth. It was clear Damen had left. Or was he taken? Panic surged through Horus. What if he had been taken by the hunters? Oh god. He hoped with all his might that the wolf shifter was alright. With a strangled breath, he sat on the bed. This wasn't the room he had stayed in. This room was more decorated, more personal. It was Damen's room.

He flopped onto the soft covers, too exhausted to try and find the guest room. Damen's bed smelt like him, a rich scent of black tea and the sweet freshness of the mountain air. He inhaled the scent deeply, hugging one of his pillows. He hoped Damen wouldn't come home, as horrible as that sounded. What would the wolf do if he saw Horus basically ingesting his pillow. Which, of course, he wasn't. But he might as well had been. He couldn't help it, Damen's scent was intoxicating.

•———————•

He woke up hours later, after a restful, dreamless sleep. The sun was now rising and the snow had stopped falling. Not wanting to push his luck, Horus packed up the few belongings he had and stood in the middle of the room. With a deep breath, he focused on the draconic kingdom. surely, if Mavic was indeed looking for him, and that Mer wasn't a delusional wacko, he wouldn't be there. It would be the safest place away from all the warlord stuff, and from there he could travel to the dead zone.

He tried to focus his energy on the thought if a journey. He pictured the bakery he had eaten at in the kingdom, how small and quaint it was. The stone walls, pink rug. He felt a burst of warm magic, and was broken out of his trance when the door slammed open. Ciril was shouting but Horus couldn't hear him. He saw the bulky figure of Damen behind the fae, and his eyes widened slightly. Before anyone could do anything, the magic worked and Horus disappeared in a swirl of fire and sparks.

•———————•

Ciril cursed loudly as the flames dissipated, revealing the now empty room. Damen was silent behind him, but the fae could feel the aggravation rolling off him in intense waves. "He was right here! Right here! Damn it! What the hell was that? Did he teleport? Is he really strong enough to do that?!" While he ranted, Damen walked to his bed and picked up one of his pillows on the well-made bed. He pushed it into his nose and inhaled sharply. The scent of fresh strawberries and the smoky, spiciness of fire magic invaded his nose. He'd been so close and now he was right back to square one. But he'd find that little home invader no matter what.

A/N: I wanted to clarify Damen isn't actually mad that Horus came back to his house lol. He's just in a funk cause the cute twink escaped again (sigh).