by Pfantazm

Author's Note: Please don't kill me. You'll find out why later.

This story contains depictions of sex between adult males. Duh.

Bad things do happen to good people. Thom and Madoc aren't people, good or bad; they're ones and zeroes that do a pretty good imitation. You, on the other hand, are good people. I can tell from here. Please be safe to keep as many bad things from happening to you as possible. Okay?

If you'd like to give me feedback on this story, any of my other stories, or if you can actually do something about the weather, rather than talk about it, write me at [email protected]. What other stories? Glad you asked. Find out at my website at its new permanent home: www.pridesites.com/pfantazm/index.html

	Thom sat with his head in his hands. "They were replacement guards," he said. "They were just ordinary men who wanted a little extra money for helping to police the festival. They didn't really know what they were doing." He looked up. "When I told them who he was, they got scared. This was Kraid. He was like the bogeyman. He was bigger than real. They weren't supposed to handle any real criminals. "I only turned away for a second. When I turned back, I - I don't know. The dagger was in my hand, and then it wasn't." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I killed him, Madoc. I killed someone." The High Guardsman was crouched at Thom's side next to the chair. He took Thom's hand. "You did well. From what I heard, he was ready to kill one of the guards himself. Any guard would have done the same thing as you." "I've never - I haven't." Tears formed at the corners of Thom's eyes. "It was very important to me." Madoc couldn't help but cry in sympathy. Since he'd been told about it, and since he'd tuned himself to Thom's feelings several weeks ago, he was quite aware of his emotional connection to Thom. He could always tell what his partner was feeling, and he usually ended up feeling the same way. He held Thom, for once not worrying if someone came into the briefing room where they were. "And on top of it all, I feel responsible for whatever's happened to Sir Bastian." The mage had regained consciousness, but hadn't spoken. Lennox told them that he'd awakened, completely healed, to find Bastian lying there on the floor. Thom and Madoc remembered how Eleazar had acted when his magic had been taken away and feared the worst. One of Bastian's fellow mages was examining him right now. "I should never have left him alone." "From what you said, it sounded like he did not give you a choice, and whatever's happened to Bastian, he seems to have done to himself. What would you have done?" Thom did not have an answer. "All you can do is help Bastian however you can, now." Thom grinned. "Look who's telling who what." Madoc looked downwards. "Seems like we both have to learn to live with the choices we've made." Thom's face went long again as he looked at Madoc. The High Guard looked up and they embraced. "Let's go and see how Sir Bastian's doing, and how Lennox is holding up," Madoc said. Thom just nodded. They got up and headed over to the infirmary where Bastian was being cared for. Lennox was wrapped in a blanket. Given the state his clothes were in after Kraid had laid his hands on him, it was about the only thing keeping him decent. He didn't seem to care. He was listening to what the mage who had come to see Bastian was saying. She was an older woman, with greying hair. Thom would have guessed she was in her fifties, but Bastian had said that mages age more slowly than most people. She wore a dark cloak similar to Bastian's, but hers was a bright green. "...and I'm afraid that's all we can do," she was saying. "But I don't understand," Lennox told her. "He had his magic checked just today, and he had a lot of it. How can it be gone?" Thom sighed. Bastian had suffered the same fate as Eleazar. "A mage can burn himself out, like a candle. From what the constable here and you describe, Mage Bastian expended a great deal of his magick, attacking those thieves and then healing you." Her tone expressed what she thought of such uses of magick. "He said you were dying, from what I understand. He must have poured all the energy he had into you, since you appear to be perfectly fine. "If a mage expends too much of his magick at once, he may not be able to recover, and I fear this is what has happened in Mage Bastian's case." "It's a shame," the constable said. "When he was here a few weeks ago, he seemed like a very nice man." Thom couldn't help but notice the constable spoke of Sir Bastian as though he were dead, even though he was lying right there with his eyes open. Whatever Thom had thought about Bastian's tactics, or of magic, he wouldn't wish that on anyone. "We should move him back to the inn," Sir Madoc said, "since there doesn't seem to be much that can be done here." "I will relay the information back to the Council of Mages," the witch said. "They will not be pleased." They allowed Sir Bastian the dignity of riding home to the inn in a covered sedan chair, rather than being carried on a stretcher. Bastian seemed barely aware of his surroundings and could only just stand, let alone walk. Madoc had to carry him up the flights of stairs to the garret. The innkeeper moved a mattress upstairs for Bastian to lie on for the time being. It didn't appear the four would be staying much longer in Annisport. Thom and Madoc were returning the sedan chair. The longhaired man lay on his bed as still as death, his eyes open and aimed straight ahead. He could have been counting knotholes in the ceiling. Lennox sat at his side, weepy-eyed. It couldn't be true, that the wonderful man who had kept him safe was gone. As he understood it, Bastian might come to be able to recognize Lennox once again, and maybe they would make love, but Bastian would never speak, he would need help eating, and he certainly would never use magic again. It was horrible to contemplate. Lennox laid his hand on Bastian's chest and felt his heart beat through the cotton sheet. What had he done it for? To save Lennox. The witch told him he must have been as close to death as he could be and still be healed. Lennox remembered some of the things Kraid and Damon both had done to him. They'd beaten him severely, broken many bones. There had been blood flowing everywhere. The pain had heated his body until it had run cold from blood loss. Now it was as though it hadn't happened. He'd fallen asleep, and he woke to find his body whole again. The price had been Bastian. The Marauders were gone now. Lennox had somehow known Bastian would keep him safe, and he had, sacrificing his mind and soul for him. Was he worth that? Teardrops splashed against Bastian's bare shoulder. The Council would come for Bastian soon. They would take him and take care of him. Lennox wondered if he'd be allowed to see him. If he couldn't, he might as well have died anyway. He loved him so much, he couldn't stand to think of life without him. Lennox took off the scraps of reddened cloth the covered him, what remained of the clothes he'd been wearing earlier that afternoon. He slid his perfect body under the covers with Bastian and held him. Lennox owed his love a debt. Bastian had done what he needed to in order to save Lennox. He had to try to save Bastian. He knew he'd promised Bastian he wouldn't play at magic again, but even if he did get himself trapped again, he would be with Bastian forever. He lay still for hours until he dreamed the stars came out. It was dim. It was the same deep blue that it had been before, but the stars were so pale Lennox could hardly see them. Lennox swooped down over the sharp, angular constellation below him. This was Bastian's body, he recalled. He glided in close and looked everything over. The bright, twinkling lights he'd seen before were now reduced to faint pulses. It saddened Lennox even more to see something that was once so beautiful come to ruin. One point was different from the others. While all the others were lit, however dimly, this one was black, almost invisible against the dark blue that surrounded it. Judging by the shape of the stars nearby, it looked like it was right in the center of Bastian's body. Lennox asked himself if this might be where the trouble was. Maybe he could light this one star again. He could feel where the connections between the points were. He found some which were joined to the darkened one. The redhead squeezed. Lennox watched as energy flowed into the point. He'd done it! It lit up! Then he realized the other stars he was using were much fainter than they had been before. Lennox let go. Oh, no. It wasn't going to be possible to make everything shine like it had before. It was like moving water from well to well: there was only so much to go around. After a little while everything went back to the way it had been. Lennox tried again. Maybe if he didn't squeeze so hard this time? The light pulled into the black point, but again, the others grew dimmer. When Lennox let go, the energy went back to where it had been. He peered at the dark star. Was his mind playing tricks, or was there a very small spark there? He squeezed and let go. He couldn't tell that the others were any fainter, but the dark point had gotten brighter. Hope flared in his chest. Lennox pumped the light in and out of Bastian's center. With every pass that black point got stronger, until it was as bright as the constellation had been when he first saw it. The redhead stopped, not certain what to do next. The energy from the point he'd built up shot out to its neighbors. There was a sharp crackling noise. The neighbors were quite bright now, and the original point was dimmer now, but not out. He pumped again until the center point was fully bright, and more energy crackled out. It got easier. After the third time pumping, the light flowed beyond the original cluster of points and lit up their neighbors. Then the ones beyond that. Lennox pumped faster, energy flowing in and out until it burst across Bastian's body. Soon the whole of it was lit. Bastian's mind above him came to life again. The power flowed until even the threads between the points glowed. There were more stars to be seen than there had been before. Lennox heard someone was crying out. He woke up. The stars were out, but the garret was brighter than daylight. There were no shadows to be seen anywhere, but there were also no torches. They had lain for hours. What was the time? Bastian stared through him. He was sitting up, and it had been his voice Lennox had heard. Bastian's eyes were aglow. Lennox thought he could see the two shades of grey in them move around. Lennox felt lightheaded. Every muscle in his body hummed as though it had gone to sleep. He felt powerful. Bastian fixed his eyes on Lennox. They wanted to kiss. Their hands clutched lustily at each other's bodies. Tongues explored mouths. They humped against one another. They had forged a perfect connection. They were no longer two; they were one. Their minds were in perfect communication. This was more power than they had ever known. They must have overdone it when they were healing themselves. It was too much power. They overturned crates across the room. They set fires and put them out. They spun in crazy circles over the bed, turning heels over head, and all around, as they loved. Someone - Thom, with Madoc behind him, was coming up the stairs to see what the noise was. They decided they were dangerous right now and they locked and held the door fast to spare their friends. Their bodies shifted so that Bastian could push his stone-stiff cock into Lennox's ass. Lennox's body knew how to accommodate it, loosening perfectly so there was no pain despite Bastian's swiftness. "The Marauders are not all gone," Lennox panted. "Damon escaped us," Bastian replied as he plunged into Lennox with a fury. The mage twisted so that Lennox could lick at his love's neck. They felt it coming. They were not two people; they were one. Climax approached and both bodies screamed in unison. A flood of cum poured out of them, dripping down as they floated above the bed. Their bodies were slick with clean sweat and the semen which ran at unnatural angles across their skin. They moved in midair again, and this time Bastian accepted Lennox's dripping manhood inside. This was a sensation Bastian's body had never experienced, but he knew it well from his other half. Lennox's member parted Bastian's muscle and touched new places. This was no invasion; it was a homecoming. Lennox's cock brought heat to the core of Bastian's soul. How could he be without this? "Damon is in the mountains," Lennox reported. "He stole a horse," Bastian noted. He pushed himself harder onto Lennox, wanting him as deep inside as his mate could be. "But he rode it to death," Lennox finished. "He's on foot, then." "We know where he is. We hid there from the Marauders. We can catch him," Lennox's mouth uttered. Bastian could feel it coming again. Lennox was about to fire his seed into him. "We... will... catch--" In tandem the lovers cried out again as they came. Bastian and Lennox felt as though they knew the universe and all of its wonders. Lennox's essence gushed into his bowels as Bastian's coated their chests. Their bodies merged and they shared their heat, their mouths, their minds. After a few moments, they touched down and fatigue took them. They passed out on the bed. Sir Madoc barged into the room, knocking the door off one hinge. He and Thom found them asleep. Bastian awoke with a splitting headache. He sat up and tried to rub the pain away. Lennox was beside him, one arm over his stomach. "He's awake," Thom said. He and Sir Madoc came over. "Bastian? Say something." "Hello?" "He's fine," Madoc said, smiling. They both came over to the bed and hugged him. "Do you remember much of anything after the warehouse?" Thom asked. "Not really," Bastian said as he touched Lennox's hair. "Not even having sex in the air with Lennox? We saw you before the door slammed. We had quite a time trying to keep the innkeeper away with all the noise you were making." Bastian remembered... something. He'd fucked Lennox and then Lennox fucked him. And.... "Damon got away. He's in the Greypoint Mountains near where Lennox and you... that cave." "How do you know about that? And how do you know he's there?" Sir Madoc asked. "I know you and Lennox exchanged memories," Thom explained, "but that doesn't--" Lennox groaned, cutting him off. He sat up, one hand at his temple. "Did it work?" He looked over at Sir Bastian and grabbed him in a bear hug. The mage rocked him back and forth, and made soothing noises at his lover. "Did what work?" Thom wanted to know. "I was going to ask the same thing," said Bastian. Lennox explained what he'd done with Bastian's spell points. "Then what happened afterwards?" Madoc asked. "It would appear that you got your magic back." He pointed to the disarray and scorched items in the room. "I'd always had trouble with fire," Bastian said ponderously. "Not judging by the warehouse," said Thom. "We captured Ivor and Kraid alive, even though...." He trailed off. Sir Madoc put in, "We also found several burnt bodies, enough to account for all the remaining Marauders--" "But not Damon. He escaped," Lennox told him. "We saw him," he and Bastian finished in unison. They smiled at each other. "Hm. We found more than enough to account for the Marauders," Madoc said. "Do we know that no others escaped the warehouse?" "I think Damon is the only one left," Sir Bastian said. "If not, our orders were to capture Kraid and Damon specifically. As many of the henchmen as possible, but those two by name," Thom reminded them. "If there are others, we'll never find them now. Besides, Bastian terrified the Marauder who ran into the city guards and me when we first arrived. I think he may be glad to be put out of his misery at dawn." Madoc said, "Then we should apprehend Damon and leave it at that. Let any that remain alive live with their consciences." "I'm truly sorry for that," said Bastian. "I was so enraged by what I felt them do to Lennox - those memories are with me now, and they are real to me." "You're not one to let something like that happen to you and not fight back," Lennox told him. "I wish I had your strength." "You have it and more, Lennox," Bastian said, holding him. "You endured much more than I did." He looked to the window. The moons were up. "What is the hour?" "Late evening. The festival is still in full swing," Thom reported. "Then we will leave for Mount Silpin on the morrow," Sir Bastian declared. "There is a mage, one Mage Tolaren, from the Council of Mages, who is supposed to be arriving tomorrow to take you back to Septana and the Academy. Should we not wait?" Madoc asked. Bastian sneered at the thought. "I have a duty to perform, and neither Tolaren nor anyone else will take me anywhere. When I have finished, I will present myself to them. I will have no difficulty proving I have my magic." He snapped his fingers and sparks flew. His scowl lifted. "Now, how to spend our evening?" "Asleep, I should think," said Thom. "Today has been most trying." "First, we must return the bed," said Sir Madoc. "The innkeeper has been asking after it." Bastian and Lennox, undressed, got up. Bastian stretched. Thom sighed. "All bloody morning I'm running around the docks, and all evening, I'm carrying furniture." They each took an end and started down the stairs. Madoc carefully stepped backwards. "How are you feeling?" "Better, now that Sir Bastian is up and about," Thom grunted. "You still feel guilty about having killed Kraid, though." They had reached a corner in the staircase. Madoc set his end down on the landing. Thom wouldn't answer. "Didn't you say that you only...," Madoc looked over his shoulder for eavesdroppers, "did work, for people who deserved it?" Thom nodded. "Don't you think Kraid caused enough suffering in his life to be one of those people?" Thom glared at him. "Killing someone is a far cry from what I did to them. Now let's get this thing down the stairs." Madoc frowned and hefted his end. He didn't press the point again that night.

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