by Pfantazm

	Bastian was roused from sleep when his wards over the camp were penetrated. He had cast two, almost in the same place, but the one inside the other. One person was leaving. Most likely one of his companions was relieving himself and had strayed too far. He relaxed and waited for him to return. Two more people left the camp. That made all three of them, all moving in the same direction. Unless they'd built a latrine that he knew nothing about.... He unrolled himself from his blanket and wrapped his robe around himself. He would freeze in the near-autumn air, but duty prescribed that he investigate. He crept carefully over to where he believed them to be. The wards moved with him, centered on his body. He sensed three people enter his wards, moving as fast as he. He backed up and paused. They were together and still. He had found them. What were they doing? Plotting conspiracies where he could not hear? Something more sinister? Bastian moved on, quiet as a cat. There they were. He sought cover behind a bush. Slowly he peered over top. They were naked. Two of them were doubled over, the one pressed right up against the other. The third, Sir Madoc, judging by the dark hair, stood before them with a container of something. He dipped his hand and touched himself. His penis was as engorged as it had been when Sir Madoc had dreamed-- Oh. Oh goodness. He should leave. He shouldn't watch. Sir Madoc got behind the pair and waited. Words were exchanged. The dark knight pressed himself against the rearmost of his companions and forced his cock into the other man's backside. Bastian suddenly realized Thom and Lennox were probably similarly coupled. Bastian's mouth hung open. His member was painfully hard and jutted into the bush before him. He touched himself, squeezing his sex and stroking it lovingly. The man in the middle - Thom? - began rocking back and forth, first plunging into Lennox in front of him, then forcing himself onto Sir Madoc. He swung his hips, trapped between the other men. Bastian's hand rubbed his sex harder, allowing him to feel some small fraction of what those in front of him must have been feeling. Lennox looked off to the side, in his direction. They locked eyes. Bastian knew Lennox could see him. The redhead beckoned him over. At first he did not move. Could he acknowledge to them that he'd been watching them? Lennox waved again. The mage timidly stood and came their way. The others stopped as they realized they were not alone. Lennox was still bent over, Thom helping to support his weight. One hand was propped up on his knee. Bastian stood before him, his robe hanging wide open. The redheaded thief reached into the robe, caressing Bastian's sides, up to his chest and down to his legs. His touch seemed to send heat through the mage's body when he should have been freezing. Lennox pulled Bastian closer by the behind and lovingly kissed his cock. The touch of his lips was a sharp feeling on the head of his member, making Bastian twitch. Lennox licked at the slit where some of his juice had spilled out, and Lennox eased more and more of his sex into his mouth. The inside of that mouth was a warm, soft, wet place that seemed like a perfectly comfortable place for his penis to stay forever. Then a tongue touched him and he gasped. He kept disappearing into that softness until he wasn't sure how he could fit anymore. Bastian stared down in wonder at this impossible feat. Lennox shoved his hindquarters back onto Thom. Both of the other men had been watching them, but they returned to their own pleasure now that it was obviously safe. The redhead never stopped making love to Bastian's cock. "I'm close," Sir Madoc announced. Bastian had been aware of Lennox's love for him, but he only truly felt it now. He felt it in the way his fingers travelled across his skin, caressing him all over. He felt it in the loving touch of his tongue on his manhood. He saw it whenever Lennox looked up, to see if he was making Bastian happy, to check in disbelief that he was really there, or to gaze into his eyes. On the few nights when Bastian had had the pleasure of a woman's company, there had been no emotion to compare to these wondrous sensations of affection. Lennox caringly held Bastian's balls, exploring the skin and feeling the eggs inside. The mage sighed and his legs weakened, but Lennox kept him upright. His breathing was now ragged. Bastian heard Sir Madoc groan. He looked up as the knight slammed into Thom's rear with great strain showing on his face. A change came over Thom's face as Sir Madoc's seed filled his body. Soon Thom did the same to Lennox. The man in front of Bastian moaned and sucked harder. "Lennox, please," the mage whispered. "I'm going to - ah! Gods!" he cried as the feeling of release shook his body and his cock blasted into Lennox's mouth. He leaned back, his cock thrust forward. Hot fluid splashed on his foot as Lennox's own seed spilled out onto the forest floor. Both he and Lennox turned to look at their companions, who were locked in a lover's embrace. It filled Bastian's heart to behold it. "Please, Sir Bastian," Lennox said as he stood up. "I want nothing more than to kiss you just once." The mage would not have refused him had he been offered the world instead. He wanted all that he saw, both the closeness Sir Madoc and Thom obviously shared, and the person before him. He slipped his arms out of his sleeves, took Lennox inside his robe and kissed him, deeply. He clutched the man's body in tightly as their tongues toyed with each other. It was not enough for him, but it was a beginning. He finished the kiss to look at Lennox and knew that he was in love as well. "Into the creek?" Thom asked. Bastian smiled at Lennox. "Yes. Why don't we?" "Do you need to have your robe? I'd hate to get it wet," Lennox said. "I do," Bastian said, taking it off, "but it's only because I get cold." Lennox stared at Bastian's exposed body and smiled. Sir Madoc yelled out, "Last one in's a troll!" and ran for the bank. Bastian, his robe over his arm, dashed after him. Sir Madoc waded splashing into the water. Bastian tossed his robe onto a convenient branch and followed him in. Where Sir Madoc submerged himself to his waist and drenched the rest of him, Bastian got his feet used to the chill waters before going onward. The other man watched him a moment and said, "Congratulations." "For what?" Bastian asked. "I can see it. You just figured out how you feel about Lennox." Bastian blinked at him. Just then Lennox came running up to him, sending them both crashing to the creek bed. The mage screamed as the cold water surrounded his body. Lennox climbed on top of him and kissed him. Bastian gripped him tight, for warmth and out of need. When they paused, he said, "Gods, this has happened so fast. I cannot credit it. Why...? How could you...?" "Your eyes, Sir Bastian." "They're repulsive," Bastian began. "They're beautiful," Lennox challenged, as though he'd just been insulted. "I've never seen eyes like yours." As Lennox peered into Bastian's eyes, he couldn't help but gaze back, studying the thief's dark green eyes. They kissed again. Lennox grappled with him, holding him tight. Bastian's eyes grew wide when he felt a hand grab his ass. The mage, unsure of himself, let his hands fall on the two mounds of Lennox's rump. He moaned into Bastian's mouth and humped into his crotch. Lennox began to lick at Bastian's neck, using the flat of his tongue, stroking with just the tip and leaving slow kisses on the tender skin. He licked all over, Bastian squirming beneath him. He traced the crevice behind his jaw by the ear, making him groan. He took Bastian's earlobe into his mouth, sucking on it. With a most delicate touch, Lennox used the tip of his tongue to stimulate the very outer rim of his ear. Tingling fire burned all through that side of his body. Bastian whimpered from the extreme pleasure. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before. He thrust his hips, rubbing his cock against the redhead's flesh. He cried out. Lennox's hand dipped beneath the surface of the water and stroked Bastian's testicles, then went underneath his body into the cleft of his ass, a finger stirring about his entrance. "Oh, Lennox! I love you!" Bastian's cock exploded into the water that flowed between them. His cum splattered onto them, congealed into rubbery strings and washed away in the current. Bastian had no idea he could come again so quickly. The mage came out of his orgasmic reverie a broken man. This person who lay with him frightened him so. He had read his thoughts, had taken his body to new heights of pleasure, and had shown him what love was in a single evening. Bastian was not at all sure he could take this, but he was just as sure he could no longer do without it. "I need to do something for you," he said. "I need to try to bring you some of the joy you've shown me, but I don't know how." Lennox caressed his love's cheek. "It's okay," he said. "If you do love me as much as you said, and as I love you, then it won't be hard at all. You already know what to do." He rolled off Bastian's body and settled into the clear creek. Bastian looked over his new love's body and was quite pleased by what he saw. His pale skin glowed in the moonlight. Bastian kissed his tender lips. He laid his body onto Lennox's and licked at his neck and clavicle. The thief did not react as strongly as he himself had, so he moved on. He kissed Lennox's chest, right in the middle, then nuzzling the flesh of his breasts. "My nipples," Lennox coached. The mage licked at the dark circles, already hard from the cold water. Lennox sighed. Encouraged, Bastian took the nub in his mouth and his tongue played with it. Lennox appeared enraptured. He curled his arms around Lennox's back and twisted his body to present the sensitive spot to him. Instinct took control and Bastian nipped at it with his teeth. Lennox groaned throatily, "Ohhhh, yes!" After a few minutes of pleasuring Lennox's chest, Bastian shifted and mouthed the area just below his rib cage. The redhead's stomach muscles contracted and he moaned again. The mage continued to lave and tease this ticklish part of his body. His chin bumped up against Lennox's member. Though it stuck up out of the water, it glistened with moisture. A thin, clear fluid ran down and into the thief's bush before draining into the creek water. Bastian eagerly licked it up, tasting a pleasantly salty syrup. He began at the base, so as to get it all, and lapped up, catching the flow at its source. He paused to stare at Lennox's phallus. He was prepared to take it into his mouth, something he would not have dreamed of a day ago. He descended onto it-- "Wait," Lennox said, laying a hand on his cheek. "What?" Bastian asked. "Your teeth are chattering." The mage hadn't even noticed, but suddenly he was quite aware of how cold he was. "Let's get out of the water," Lennox said. "Help me up." They stood and left the creek. Sir Madoc and Thom were still playing. Bastian shivered as he snatched his robe from the tree and put it on. They stole off into the forest. They went back to camp to fetch a blanket, then went deeper into the wood. There were small spaces between the trees where the winds would not blow, and here they found shelter from the cold. "Now," Bastian said eagerly, "to please you," and he reached for Lennox's cock... which was softening. "I'm tired," Lennox explained. "I've already come once." "But I--" the mage began. Lennox put a finger over his love's lips. "You have already pleased me once. There will be time for you to return the gesture, I promise. In fact, I insist," he leered. He stood close to Bastian and draped the blanket around them. "Being beside you pleases me. For now, I need nothing more." He kissed him. They sat and held each other until Bastian ceased shivering. "What spells do you know?" Lennox asked. "I can touch a mind, as I did with you. I can move some objects without touching them. The iron handshake, of course--" "The ferreae manicae," Lennox repeated. Bastian was pleasantly surprised. "Yes. Most people don't pay attention to the Old Language anymore." "I remembered you saying it," Lennox said. "Can you fly? I've heard witches can fly, sometimes." "No. I have tried, and there are mages who can, but so far, I have not had that success." Bastian considered. He really did want to know what had caused that miscast with the tactus animi he'd done earlier, and the levitation should be harmless if he was careful. "However, there is one thing I can do. I can fly you." Lennox's eyes lit up. "Stand." Lennox got up, naked. Bastian arranged his robe around himself. "Take my hand." Lennox did so. Bastian sought the spell-point in his mind and tapped it. He eased Lennox off the ground. His feet stayed under him in case Bastian needed to kill the spell suddenly. There was no backwash. The mage's feet stayed on the ground. He sighed. All was normal again. Bastian arranged his lover onto his stomach in mid-air. Lennox spread his arms out. Bastian kneeled under him, one arm directly overhead, maintaining the contact. He guided Lennox in a slow circle, allowing him to fly around Bastian's head. The mage turned on his knee as needed to keep from twisting his arm off, and watched Lennox's privates dangle from his body. Suddenly, Lennox was falling! He dove headlong for the ground. Bastian fought to turn him so he wouldn't break his neck, but he had no control anymore. Instead, Lennox spun onto his back in front of Bastian's face. Lennox was now in control of his own movements. And it was total control, he was sure. The redhead wasn't even aware that anything was wrong. Bastian's mouth was hanging open. Lennox kissed him, then glided perfectly to the earth at his feet. He hugged the mage tight. "Thank you so much." Someone grabbed Bastian by the collar. Had someone pierced his wards? It was Sir Madoc. He pressed the mage up hard against the trunk of a tree. "Put it back!" he yelled. Thom rushed up. Both men were drenched. "Madoc, what's wrong?!" Lennox tried to wrench Sir Madoc's arms away. The furious knight pressed against his ribcage. "I said to put it back! You have to!" There was the spark of madness in Sir Madoc's eyes. Bastian had to take control of the situation before it got out of hand. He slowly, and deliberately, so Sir Madoc could watch, wrapped his hands around Sir Madoc's wrists. "NO!!" Thom screamed and threw himself at Sir Madoc, knocking him to the ground. Bastian fell forward, but Lennox was there to catch him. "No, Madoc, no," Thom yelled, on top of the knight and pounding on his chest. "I'm not going to lose you that way, I'm not. He's going to send you away and kill you and I'll never know why!" Thom was weeping. "Please, Madoc, tell me what's wrong, please!" Bastian kneeled by their side. "Sir Madoc, it's possible I can do what you need done, but I don't know what that is," he explained calmly. "What do you want me to put back?" "He said a scar," Thom said over his shoulder. The knight looked at them with crazed, scared eyes. "I c-can't!" And now he began to cry. "Madoc," he said, shaking his head, "don't do this to me. There isn't anything you can't tell me." He looked briefly at Lennox and Bastian suspiciously. "You'll hate me. You'll never want to speak to me ag--" He burst into sobbing tears, shaking like a leaf. Thom let him sit up so he could hold him. Lennox brought over the blanket and laid it on Madoc's shoulders. They all crowded in to console him. Bastian's eyes were tearing in sympathy to Sir Madoc's. Bastian tapped the spell-point by his heart, casting comfort over the other three. The mage felt his own tensions ease, and he suspected that was his love's handiwork. He was grateful. Sir Madoc's tears subsided. Thom rocked the knight back and forth. Lennox said, "Madoc, we're all your friends here. I can't imagine what might be so terrible that we'd all hate you. We know you. We all love you." Bastian stroked the knight's side affectionately. "Please, Madoc. I can't stand to see you like this," Thom said. "Please tell me. I don't care what it is. I just need to know." "I..." Sir Madoc began. Bastian found himself holding his breath. "I was living in Ellaston that day--" "Gods, no!" Thom whispered and crushed Madoc's body to his own. Bastian felt a chill down his spine. None of them needed to be told what Ellaston meant. As a young man learning his magery, his teachers would frighten him and his classmates with the tale of the worst case of magic gone wrong in known history, and it had only happened twenty years ago. He'd been fifteen himself at the time. One of the Talvaedean sages at the college there had been tampering with magicks and something, no one knew what, had gone wrong. The college was found burned to the ground and that particular sage's body was never found. The other priests of the temple had been driven mad. "I wasn't aware that anyone had survived the Ellaston Massacre," Bastian said. "Five of us," Sir Madoc said. "How do you think anyone knows what went on?" "Scryers, I thought...." Sir Madoc was shaking his head, though Thom clutched him tight. "The scryers went just as mad as the Talvaedeans. They had to rely on us. "It was horrible. "My father was the town tailor. Mother helped with the sewing. "It was an ordinary evening. I was playing on the floor. Mother was watching over me. Do you remember Aspasia, the wizard? She looked just like her. Long brown hair. Father said I had her eyes. She was very beautiful. "We heard shouts from outside. Mother went over to open the door to see what was going on outside. There was a man running down the road, yelling at everyone to run, to leave town. One of the teachers attacked him and slit his throat. "Mother shoved me inside and slammed the door. She called Father over to the window. He looked for a while and he told Mother to get me away from the sewing table. "I knew something was very wrong but I didn't know what was happening. I was just very frightened. "They upended the table and pushed it in front of the door. Mother held me close and we all laid by the table. Father warned us not to move and not to speak and they wouldn't find us." Sir Madoc's eyes were far off, staring down into nothing. "It must have lasted for hours. We heard screams and weeping, which always stopped after a few minutes. Sometimes someone would beat on the door, but they couldn't get in. They might have been priests or the villagers trying to hide. "There was someone, just outside the wall, a man, who was begging for his life. I heard him slam against the wall. I heard him die. "Father had warned me not to move or speak, but I couldn't help it," he pleaded. "I was so scared. I cried out. I couldn't help it, I'm sorry.... "Someone started pounding on the door again. The table moved. My parents and I were sent rolling onto the floor. "There were two sages with bows in the doorway. They fired once each. Then they turned to me. "I wanted to run but I couldn't move. I just lay there. I couldn't take my eyes off them. "The archer took another arrow." The knight was fingering the skin below his left clavicle. "I knew him. It had been Spaelin, the sage who taught my friends and me our lessons." Thom had his head resting on Sir Madoc's chest, tears running down. Lennox's head was lowered. "They found me in the corner of our house, underneath the burnt timbers and ashes. The fire had attracted help from the next town. "After the Talvaedean priests had killed all the villagers they could find, they burned the village and started killing each other. Three others still lived along with one mad priest, another archer who couldn't kill himself. "The guards did it for him. "The knights of the Guard found me, rescued me and nursed me back to health. I owe them so much. I wanted to be one of them. Maybe then, I could fix things. "When I awoke there was still some of the arrow shaft in my shoulder. I couldn't move my arm. They said I was very fortunate to be alive, but my-- my father and my m-m--" Sir Madoc started crying again. "Thom, I killed my parents! I killed my parents!" Thom cradled his partner in his arms and whispered, "No, no, no," while he cried it out again. Lennox, sensing a need, said, "I'll get water," and, wiping his eyes, left for the camp. Sir Madoc continued to weep. Bastian felt Lennox leave the wards. Irrationally, he feared for Lennox's safety. When Lennox came back in he felt better. Soon he appeared with a cooking pot full of water from the creek. "Here, drink," Lennox said, offering it to his friend. He sipped at it, spilling a little down his and Thom's fronts. When he was done, he looked at Thom. "You must hate me now," he said in a small voice. "No, never, Madoc," Thom replied. "I love you and I always will. You scared me. You're here and I was afraid at the thought of you dying in that horror. I'm very sorry to hear about your parents, but I am more thankful than ever that you're here with me." He held a weeping Madoc to him once again. "I love you, Madoc, I love you, and you should never, ever forget it." Bastian touched Sir Madoc and read him. It was just as he'd thought. "Sir Madoc," the mage said, "there are a couple of questions I would like to ask." "Not now!" Thom snapped at him. "No, Thom, I'm ready," Sir Madoc told him. "What do you want to know?" "Were there some people in the town that you found you were emotionally attached to? When they were happy, you were happy; when they got angry, so did you?" "Of course. My family, my friends...." "Strangers as well?" Sir Madoc paused. "Sometimes." "Your teachers?" The knight nodded grimly. "Some." "Now wait," Thom interrupted. "You're not trying to say that Madoc was responsible--" "No. We know that a Talvaedean spell was the cause. There's no way Sir Madoc could have been involved. I have only one more question. Is Thom one of those people?" Sir Madoc looked at his partner. "Yes, he is." "When he arrived at the garrison in Karelia you looked at the door and got up to open it before he knocked even though the hallway was often busy. I've seen dogs do that, but very few humans. "When I cast an illusion in the tavern to stop the brawl, you could hear the spell at work, which most people can't do." Thom's eyes went wide. "When you first arrested him as the Dark Rogue, and suddenly all of this makes much more sense, you did not turn him over to a handy garrison at Cairncross when you learned of that town's plight. You trusted him to accompany you on the quest, but when asked, you couldn't say why. "When the former knight Bryn attacked you in the courtyard of Dragon's Keep out of anger, you fought back with excessive force, according to witnesses, to the point of punching him out before he could attack you, and while you were facing the other way." "How do you know all this?" Thom asked. Bastian considered his choices, and decided to tell the truth. "You were right. I do have another mission, this one given me by Sir Rhys. He noticed a pattern in your behavior, Sir Madoc, and he wondered if you have magic. He wanted an expert opinion. I've just checked, and you do." The mage let this sink in before going on. "It isn't enough for the Council or even Sir Rhys to be concerned with, but you can read the feelings of certain other people. Thom is one for sure, as is Bryn. I'm fairly sure that the person who was killed outside your house before you cried out during the Ellaston Massacre was one also. "You felt the fear of the villagers and the madness of the sages. You must have a lot of courage and inner strength, because lesser men that you would have gone mad right with the Talvaedeans. No one can blame you for panicking under those conditions. "And remember, the sages killed your parents, not you. If the archers hadn't come just then, they might have died when they burned down your home. "Only five people lived through that, Madoc. Five. You should count yourself lucky to be among them, right?" Sir Madoc wouldn't answer. "We can worry about all of that later," Thom said. "Right now, I'd like to have some time alone with him." To this, Sir Madoc just nodded. "Okay," Bastian nodded. "We'll be at the camp." The new couple left them there to grieve for lost loves, lost chances and lost innocence. Bastian awoke early after such a late night. Someone else was leaving the wards. He was alone at the camp. Once more, Bastian dressed in his robe to see what was going on. He found Sir Madoc and Thom in the blanket he'd left with them, holding each other face to face. Despite everything that had taken place the night before, Sir Madoc had a faint smile on his face. He hoped Thom had helped to make things better for his love. Bastian continued through the woods in search of Lennox. The redhead was sitting at the edge of the forest by the road, watching the sky. The sun was just about to rise and the sky itself was a pinkish blue. Lennox was dressed again. He turned his head to where the mage stood. "Good morrow," he said, yawning. "Good morrow. What are you doing up? You couldn't have gotten much sleep." "Saying goodbye." Oh, yes. The dawn. "I don't understand why you would want to. I know how cruel they were to you." "They were," the former prisoner said, "but for years they were the only people I got to talk to, the only ones I knew. They were like family, in an odd way. They were kind to me too at times." Bastian sat at Lennox's side and put an arm over his shoulder. "Are you sure it's safe to be out in the open like this?" Lennox nodded. "They're never up at dawn. Wherever they are, they're sleeping." The sun appeared over the trees and Lennox bowed his head. "Are you okay? Confused about what lies ahead?" Bastian asked. "No, not confused. I helped you to catch them, and I should have known they would be executed. I don't know what I was thinking. I know exactly what I'm doing now. I'm still with you." Lennox hugged him close. "I'm glad you're with us, and with me," Bastian told him. They kissed until Lennox yawned again. "Here, let's go back to camp and try to get an hour or two of sleep. Yesterday was a long day, and you still need it." The two new lovers went back to their place by the fire of the night before, now just ashes, and napped in each others' arms, secure in the other man's presence.

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part five