Eros

Killing Time - 69

He entered the room, a tall figure draped in a cloak of dark, live leafs. Parquet of ebony wood carpeted the floor with a dark, polished sheen. Blue, cloudless skies spread out the window, and sunlight poured in, as pure as it gets.

Movement drew his eyes to the shadow by the wall. A knight sat there, concealed entirely by a seamless suit of glossy black steel. His gaze continued to the sofa facing the window. A young man lounged in its cushions, legs stretched and hands folded behind his head. His white hair seemed to be wisps of light as he basked in the sun.

"It's been a while." He said.

"Too long, surely." The man agreed from the sofa.

"I was surprised you invited me. The others say they never get hold of you."

"The others never really want to get hold of me, that's why." The white-haired man smiled, a crescent of mischief across his boyish features. The cloaked man guffawed, an ancient, rasping sound.

"Can you blame them for it?"

"Can you blame me for it?" The man pouted. "It's not my fault they're too uptight for my type of fun. You understand, don't you?"

"You know I do."

"That's why you're my favorite." The man smiled at him again, but this smile crossed the line between playful and predatory. Something about the way it gleamed in his yellow eyes.

"Good thing you mention that." He said, grinning in the shadow of his hood. "Because I have a favor to ask."

A white eyebrow rose in curiosity. "Go on."

"Have you seen the recent battle in the woods?"

"Perhaps I spared a glance." The young man said, though knowing him, he hadn't missed a beat of it. "Why do you ask?"

"There was someone there." He said, a grin cracking the bark of his cheeks, oozing darkness in his voice. "Someone of yours."

"Interesting concern." The man said, but didn't sound interested. "Do you intend to share it with the others?"

The knight shifted in the shadows, his gauntleted hands on the black pommels of the swords. There was only one right answer to the man's question. Thankfully, it aligned with the truth.

"Quite the opposite. I came to ask for your permission."

"My permission?" The young man seemed amused with the concept. "What for?"

"For the one thing the others forbid above all."

The man smiled. There was no masking it this time, the sinister thing he was. He could wear flawless, youthful flesh, and bathe in the brightest of sunlight, but he couldn't hide his true nature. Rules were meant for his breaking. And the higher the stakes are, the meaner the game.

"Granted."

-

Alora opened her eyes and saw Kaido. She was wrapped between his arms and chest, his thick muscles rippling against her spasmodically, unnaturally. Her body bounced with his rapid footfalls. His gaze was lifted from her, eyes constantly darting, scanning surroundings that were blurred the speed they moved it.

Half her face was burning. She snapped her head away in panic, and understood that it wasn't fire, but her flesh itself that was scorchingly hot. The air pierced into it like a thousand needles of ice. Pain made the world fade out again.

Next thing Alora saw were white flames rushing onto her, and woke back into pain. In the haze of her fitful sleep, she reached to touch the side of her face, half sure someone was holding a torch to her skin. Her touch proved it could hurt even more, but she couldn't withdraw it. The raw, sticky thing under her fingertips couldn't possibly be her face.