“Stop!” I heard voices proceeding from the road behind me.

The sound of multiple galloping horses got louder with each second. Hmmm, something interesting was about to transpire before my eyes! I stood facing the direction the horses were bound to come by, and let my hand rest on the hilt of my sword. The shapes of three, manned horses got closer and closer until I could make out a hooded person to be one of them. Whoever he was, he was getting chased by two men dressed in light green knight armor. I wasn’t sure who was the one at wrong in this situation, knights wouldn’t chase innocent people as a rule though. I was thinking of letting them past me, keeping a low profile was probably helping me stay out of my brother’s interests.

However, if there was a plan bubbling up in my thoughts, it got torn to shreds when a gust of wind infused with life energy swept me up into the air. Surprised I’d been lifted off the ground, I didn’t consider countering whoever did it until I was sat between the chased horseman and the horse’s head. The man had pulled me to his horse and given me the reigns. Okay, I can roll with this.

“Keep us on the road!” The man’s hood fell back as he brought out a white wood bow and charged it with an arrow.

Brilliant, pink hair made into a braid glimmered exposed in the morning light as its owner aimed patiently at one of the knights chasing us.

“Baal?!” I asked surprised before the sound of the arrow leaving the bow reached my ears.

The loud noise of a crashing horse boomed behind us and I looked back to see what had happened. Baal’s arrow hit one horse, its rider falling off and remaining still on the floor knocked out by the impact. The courtesan wasn’t grinning just yet; he was staring at his next victim, his bow already charged with a second arrow.

“Oh! Hey Luke! Sorry for bringing you into this! I wasn’t expecting you’d come this way!”

Like hell he was! I’d been having a mental debate about whether I’d get to see him again and he shows up in this manner?!

He released the second arrow and the sound of a man grunting and falling on the ground followed it.

“Phew, gosh doing that while also riding the horse was getting annoying.” Baal smiled and placed his bow across his back wrapping his arms around my waist. “Mind if I blame you for this? I swear, there had to pay a price for the best fuck of my life. Sure as hell wasn’t expecting this to be it.”

“What is this all about? I thought you were just a fancy whore.” I commented with a mischievous grin on my face. My words won me a painful pinch to my side. “Ouch!”

“Asshole on the streets and loving prince on the sheets! Who would have thought!” Baal laughed and pressed his face against my back. “Where are we going?”

“Well I’m taking you to Cordelica, if there aren’t any goons after you over there. Then, I’ll see to it that you find a safe place to hide.”

I honestly possessed no idea what kind of trouble Baal had gotten into in less than three days but I wasn’t about to leave him to his luck. Not when returning alive to see him was all I could think about lately.

“Hide? Oh, sweetie, I’ve hidden long enough. Why don’t you take me with you, I’m craving for some adventure!”

Is he serious?

“What the hell were knights chasing a courtesan for? I can’t imagine it has anything to do with your skills with a bow or your ability to use life energy.” I asked feeling curious over the pink haired man. Also, perfect way to change the topic.

Now that I thought of it, what if the Goddesses were playing a cruel joke on me by sending the one being in my entire life capable of making me into an idiot? Cruel joke or not, fate had moved its pieces so that we met again in such a short amount of time. When stuff like that happened to me then suspicions had to follow.

“Let’s just say I’m a runaway kid, it’s irrelevant. I promise not to be a burden… not to mention, I’ll keep you all sorts of warm this high up in the mountains.” Baal’s voice acquired a cocky tone. To emphasize what he meant, his hands moved to the border of my pants.

“Seriously, I don’t think I should bring someone as delicate as you to where I’m going.” I meant to tease, but Baal groaned annoyed behind me and asked me to stop the horse.

I did as he asked and he got off the animal. He stood by the horse, glaring at me with his arms crossed.

“Get your ass down here, someone needs to be taught a lesson.” He said clicking his tongue afterwards. “Ion won’t run away, promise.”

I dismounted the horse and looked at him with a questioning expression. He took off his cloak to reveal a dark wine, half way jacket with golden lines on its stand collar’s borders. The zipper line matched with his pair of tight black pants. He had his archer gear all in light brown leather to match with his tall scout boots. The man might’ve been out of his courtesan clothes, but he remained handsome and provocative all the same.

“I don’t have a sword yet, so I’ll take yours.” He mused and took a fighting stance.

Goddess, he looked so damn hot with that damn “I’ll beat you to a pulp” face.

“Okay, come at—”

The man threw a punch in my direction with such speed I was surprised I had dodged at all. He grinned noticing the surprise on my face and continued throwing a stream of punches all directed to different parts of my body. Dodging being impossible without exposing how powerful I really was, I blocked all of them and analyzed whatever the hell Baal was trying to do. He was measuring me; I was sure of that. It wasn’t long before he powered up one of his fists with an amazing amount of life energy and tried to sack me right up the stomach. I blocked, but he was looking for any kind of contact. The moment we touched, I realized it was a mistake. With a boom, I was sent flying several feet away from Baal. I hit the ground and rolled to a stop, that would’ve hurt if I belonged to one of the normal races. I stood up, shook off the dust and noticed I was lighter than usual. My sword no longer hung from its place at my belt. Not bad, he’d give me a proper fight even if he didn’t catch me by surprise. Nice, my type of man.

I listened to the sound of hooves crashing against the ground and Baal appeared on his horse with my sword in his hand.

“Not bad for a fancy whore, right?” He grinned, proud of his victory.

“I’ll make sure not to underestimate you anymore. Where on earth did you learn to punch like that?”

He offered me his hand so that I could get on his horse and I gladly took it. This time he took the reins, and he ushered the horse forwards towards Cordelica.

“I don’t think it matters… but I’ll give you a hint. I trained a lot when I was little.”

Somehow I’d get him to tell me, perhaps not today or tomorrow, but Baal will talk to me. The day that happened, one of my greatest curiosity thriven interrogatives would be answered, and I’d drink to celebrate… if you knew what I meant.

We rode until dusk without much trouble or much to talk about. Other than making a few questions regarding our current location, we appreciated the silent company. Baal was definitely dealing with whatever made him leave the village and I chose to meditate on whether I should really allow him to tag along. Warm company wasn’t something to turn down without a reason… except I had a very good one.

Baal had demonstrated he held his ground pretty well, but how would he hold his ground against a killing machine of my kind? The mere thought of seeing him die by my wretched brother’s hands made me shiver. Baal wasn’t an important “toy” like Diana. My brother would enjoy killing him and making me watch.

“Huh, did your mood just change? You seem more worried and somber now...” Baal spoke up, his voice stopping me from dwelling on my brother.

“I’m just thinking…”

“Hmmm, too intrusive of me to ask what has you on edge?”

“Not really, I’m just worried about you.”

Baal turned his head to look at me with blushed cheeks. That was awfully cute. I should catch him by surprise more often.

“I thought I proved myself a few hours ago?”

“Yes Mr. Fugitive, that doesn’t mean I won’t worry about you.”

“Weirdo, you’ve only known me for a day. Do I have you that  madly in love?” His last remark was cocky. He was amused by my attitude towards him.

“Perhaps, who wouldn’t fall slave to those hips of yours after one taste?”

“Oof, and you’ve yet to see all they can do.”

We stopped to make camp a few meters off the main road. It’s not like I wasn’t in a hurry. I was traveling with Baal and he was human for all I knew, my new companion needed time to rest. He whined he was okay, but I wasn’t going to take a chance.

“Seriously, I can keep up with your kind.” Baal whined again and crossed his arms.

I tied our horse by a tree and got an apple out of my satchel to feed it with. With care, I stroke the animal’s mane before I turned to Baal and raised an eyebrow at his annoyed expression.

“I know, Ion, though, needs to rest. C’mon, humor me.” I told him and intended to go search for fire wood.

Baal sighed loudly and snapped his fingers, a tongue of fire settling on the ground. The spark stayed perfectly controlled on a small portion of the ground as it grew bigger and brighter.

“No need to make a campfire, I got this.” Baal said while he removed a bag attached to the horse’s mounting seat.

He settled it on the floor before he sat by it, close to the fire.

“Well, you’re talented.” I said sitting next to him and convoking a small blue flame over the palm of my hand and making it float in front of him. “Life energy users aren’t exactly the norm in this part of our world.”

He smiled and started fiddling with his braid. He seemed a little embarrassed about the things I was telling him.

“Yeah, I was born a natural at it,” he mentioned and gave me a shy look before he decided he was better off rummaging through his bag. “You’re an odd one too, your morphine is more of an aphrodisiac than a sedative. Rare in a vamp, I haven’t had many clients that have it, much less as potent as yours.”

He bit down on a piece of bread and stared at the fire after he spoke.

“Perks of being me. As if I wasn’t handsome enough, I melt hearts even when I’m inflicting pain.” I laughed and Baal punched me on the shoulder playfully.

“You irritate me. Seriously, why did the Goddesses even decide you get to exist?” He mentioned and I looked at him with a smug face. “Oh for the Goddesses’ sake, you’re really handsome, you’re very good in bed and you’re also a complete and total douche bag.”

“It sounds like someone fell in love at first sight?” I teased and Baal rolled his eyes almost into his skull.

“Whores don’t fall in love, but we do find people awfully intriguing.” He replied and laid himself on the ground using his bag as a pillow. “The fire should last an hour and the warmth will remain until morning, put the fire out if it stays longer...”

Baal gave me his back and lay still. I grinned and set myself to look over the fire. Baal fell asleep quickly, his breathing turning slow and calm once he did. For someone who bragged about how he was fine with staying up all night, he surely fell asleep as fast as a tired child. My gaze deviated from the bounded flames to Baal’s back. A few of his back piercings could be seen thanks to his half way jacket, an orange gleam adorning the milky skin he possessed. His braided hair tempted me, begged me to stroke it. Last night I hadn’t gotten around touching his hair enough since we were practically all over the place. My curiosity begged for me to take it into my hands and fiddle with it. Careful I wouldn’t wake the ex-courtesan up, I picked up his braid and admired how soft and silky his hair was. Baal smelled like spring today, flowers and cherries to be more precise. His scent made me remember how sweet his blood tasted and almost instantly my teeth started to ache. I sighed letting go of his hair and moved across the fire to sit by a tree. I stared at our horse and at the sleeping Baal. Catching myself thinking that maybe I should drink from Baal a little, I slapped my forehead and ushered myself to calm down.

Perhaps bringing Baal with me up the mountains would be a good idea. I needed to feed, and I found the fact that he drove me crazy just by thinking about his blood would keep things rather interesting. I could also help him stay safe from whoever those knights were. He knew how to take care of himself so I wouldn’t be putting him in much danger… kind of.

Ignoring my aching teeth and simply concentrating on watching Baal sleep, I managed to drift off myself.