The sun had yet to rise the moment I set foot outside the village. The cold morning breeze ushered me to return to the Waning Moon Spring, it begged me to stay a little longer. However, the cold wouldn’t stop me. It was time to move on.

When I woke up that morning, I found Baal huddled against me. The beautiful man slept peacefully, his face reflecting innocence he certainly didn’t possess when he was awake. His braid became undone last night during our shower. His long, pink hair should’ve been tousled all over but instead looked silky and combed.

Watching him like that made me consider staying here with him, if only for one more day. The clarity rest had given me made me realize meeting Baal had altered my state of mind enough for me to trust him. I couldn’t afford that, not after setting out on this journey, not when I knew very well that anyone I became close to would be in danger.

In silence, I got dressed, picked up my things and left a bag of gold coins on my side of the bed. I kissed his forehead one last time before I set off towards the door.

“Didn’t I tell you it was my treat, Luke?” His sleepy voice was probably meant to sound mischievous, but it also possessed a sad ring to it.

“I know, take it as payment for dinner.” I replied cheerfully, returning to bed and sitting by him. My fingers grazed his forehead while the man gifted me a sleepy smile.

“That’s rich.” He laughed. The man sat up and stretched, his purple eyes then posing on mine. “Next time, let’s both  have dinner.”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” I teased, my hand cupping his face. He pressed one of his hands to mine and purred. “That a yes?”

“Hmmm, what do you say?” He answered turning his head so that his lips touched my palm. He placed a kiss there and yanked a stupid smile from me, again. This guy KNEW how to press my buttons.

“Yes, it’s a date.” The words coming out of my mouth were more of a natural reaction. The chances of me returning anywhere were very low… but if I could dream about doing it, I’d love to see him again. “It might take me a while to return… would you wait for me?”

“Hmmm, let me check my schedule for the next couple of years…” He made a pensive face, eyes staring at the ceiling and puckered lips. “Huh, seems like I’m not planning to travel anywhere. So, waiting seems fine.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, a laugh escaped me and Baal nudged me on my shoulder. If this stranger was willing to wait for me… wait, what was I thinking?

“I am. You make sure to come back, okay?” He cupped my face with both of his hands and planted a chaste kiss on my lips.

“Hey—”

Someone knocked on the door, interrupting our moment. Baal grinned and let my cheeks go. He was going to answer the door. I asked him to remain in bed and went to answer instead. The bartender girl from last night, Uuna, stood in front of me wearing a huge grin on her face.

“Good morning sir, did you enjoy your stay?” she asked and I nodded putting up a pleased smile. “Speechless I see! He is our highest paid courtesan after all! I’m afraid I’ll have to steal him from you. He has an appointment with one of his clients in about half an hour… Baal, you heard me?”

“Loud and clear, I’ll be ready for her by then.” Baal spoke from bed, he sounded a little off. The sweet tone of his voice mellowed and turned dull.

“Alright! Sir, if you’re leaving make sure to leave your room keys with Baal. Oh! Here’s your cloak, I didn’t want to interrupt last night… Thank you for your visit!”

Uuna giggled, handed me my cloak and then left for downstairs. I stayed holding the door open for a few seconds before I returned to Baal’s side. On my way to bed I picked his clothes up and handed them over to him.

“A client this early in the morning? You’re a busy body.” The snicker that escaped me caused Baal to also snicker.

“Well, like Uuna said, I’m the brothel’s best courtesan. My clients tend to be rich and have the most random appointment times.” He replied, rolling his eyes and making vortices with his index finger by his head. “Hey… ummm, you will  come back, right?”

Augh. I wanted to. I really wanted to come back and have another good night with this man. So, fuck it.

I placed a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him close to me. My lips covered his and my tongue parted them. He leaned into the kiss, tilted his head so that we both had better access to each other. This kiss wasn’t feverish, it was slow and careful. More of an attempt to memorize each other’s lips than anything else.

“You’ll be late…” I whispered, forcing myself to stop our kiss.

“But…” Baal was out of breath. He hadn’t opened his eyes, his lips brushing teasingly against mine.

“This is my answer.” I grinned against his lips.

We stayed like that for a few more seconds before I gathered all my willpower and separated from the courtesan. He watched me leave in silence and with a joyful expression on his face. I opened the door and turned to look at him one last time.

“See you later, hot stuff.” I winked along with my words.

“No mind if you do, handsome.”

Enough said, I got out of the room and closed the door behind me. It’d be hard to ignore the happy flutter in my chest right now, but I’d survive. On the other side of the door, I was sure I heard Baal squeal. A few thuds and I was sure he was kicking around in bed, the common reaction you’d get from a flushed teenage girl.

“I can hear you!” I teased.

“Oh my Goddesses, go!” He giggled, the fact I was right made me leave the Waning Moon Spring with a dumb, happy smile on my face.

I’d decided. When everything was over, if some of me  remained, I’d come back to see him.

                                                           ~*~*~*~

Three days had passed since I left Baal’s village. So here I was, making my way further up the Irisian Spine in morning chilliness. My next stop would be Geos’ capital, Cordelica, and the trip has me in dire need of a horse and blood wine. Taking a break for a day before I headed up to the region’s highest peak, Blessed Cael’s Spear, sounded like a merry idea. Cordelica was a few more days away, reaching the peak would take me even longer. My Heavenly Sword had been sealed at the Spear once the last war amongst Ancients ended two thousand years ago. If you’re Irisian, then you perhaps know the legends of the Ancients and of three legendary Heavenly Swords. One of them belonged to me and to prevent its power from attracting any unwanted attention, I made it untraceable and unreachable for other immortals.

A war was breaking out down on the southern lands of Iris. The Guard, an elite army lead by twelve powerful captains, were chasing down Princess Diana of the Black Flame, and her followers. Their goal was to alter the Life Net, the stream of life which unites all worlds and universes in existence. The Guard wanted to use it to make them absolute rulers of our world. Diana was doing her best to foil their plans and stop them for good. She and her knight convinced me to follow her and help out. After all, one of her enemies wasn’t someone she or anyone younger than one thousand years could easily take on, much less defeat.

My brother had become free of his imprisonment, which had kept him from bending his rage on our world for more than two thousand years. Dealing with him didn’t fall on Diana’s turf, but on mine.

Yet, despite all the stakes and powerful enemies, my journey had been quite uneventful. I’d taken up whistling to kill time while I journeyed these northern routes. Truth, I’d expected my brother to catch up to me. He was a true master of pestering, he loved making his victims into torture toys. That he hadn’t shown up in my way was bothering. Perhaps he still found Diana interesting enough to be kept distracted, which could mean I’d have a few weeks before he decided to show his mug—

“Stop!”