A young man looked in the window of a shop and stares at the clothing displayed. It was a beautiful robe with intricate edging and expertly sewn patterns. It was fit for a king or a prince, royalty of the highest caliber. It used to be something that young man would even pick out for himself. The door to the shop opened up and what looked like the owner of the facility walked out with a frown.
“Are you just going to stand there and gawk or are you going to come inside?” The young man looked over and the owner suddenly gasped, bowing. “My lord…”
The young man quickly put his hand over the bottom half of his face and walked in the opposite direction. The owner of the shop followed him and grabbed his shoulder.
“Pardon my impudence, my lord, but I must ask you-“
“Let go of me.” The young man said, pulling his shoulder from the shop owner. “You saw nothing here today.”
“But… my lord, we’ve been looking for you for months…”
“Don’t breathe a word to anyone.” He growled, turning around to look at the shop owner. “Do you understand?”
The shop owner didn’t understand but he did know that this man was higher than him and should be shown respect. He nodded and gave another bow.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1h0GHnkMRI
“My apologies, sir, I must have mistaken you for someone else.”
The young man nodded and continued to walk in the opposite direction. It was a bad idea to go into town and it was an even dumber idea to go into town and not have his face covered with something. He was getting careless as much as he was getting desperate. Things were starting to become harder and he didn’t want to be sent back home just yet… As he walked a little further, he suddenly felt a pain in his stomach and he leaned against a building to brace himself for the wave of pain. He doubled over and endured the pain, panting as he stood back up. As he stood up, he realized that things were getting much worse and he ran off with the best of his ability.
A few hours later, he entered into the forest and leaned on a tree to catch his breath. As he did, he opened up the dull and plain robes he had on and pulled them apart. As the fabric fell to either side of him, it was now plain to see what was going on and why he didn’t want to be recognized. A large, extended midsection was showing through the undergarments of his robes. It looked a little bigger due to his position as he leaned on the tree, but it was there nonetheless. The young man put his hand on the orb and rubbed it softly, finally getting the strength to right himself to standing. He fanned himself with the robes and tied them again, but not as tight, and he made his way deeper into the woods.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrz2ZJVFE7
He eventually got to a cottage and grabbed the basket that was sitting outside of the door, deciding to go and get some apples from the orchard. He had gone into town to try and get to the butcher but he didn’t get to make it due to the shop owner. He was so stupid… How could he get caught within two minutes?
“Milord, is that you?” a small voice called from inside the cottage.
The young man opened the door and walked in, putting the basket on the table.
“It’s me. Sorry, I didn’t get to the butcher. Someone recognized me so I thought I’d go and get some apples instead.”
“You can’t eat apples every day. You have to eat meat.”
The young lord walked into the back of the cottage where another young man was laying in the bed. He looked haggard and pale, a sheen of sweat covering his body. The young lord walked in and took the rag from the basin beside the other man and wrung out the excess water. He dabbed the rag on his companion’s face as the other let out a weak cough.
“My lord, you must find meat…”
“I’ll get some soon. I’m not that affected that I can’t go get it myself if I have to.”
“You know that you can’t.” The young man looked at his lord with a worried and heavy expression. “I’m sorry that you have to endure this.”
“Nonsense, Atreyu; you’ve done so much for me in the past and now it’s something I can do for you.”
“This isn’t how it was supposed to go…”
The young lord stroked Atreyu’s wet and sweaty golden hair, moving a few strands from being plastered on his face.
“It was nothing we could have stopped and if I hadn’t volunteered, it probably would have happened without my consent so, it worked out.”
“Don’t say that so nonchalantly, Diho…” Atreyu said, looking away. “I can never forgive myself for what’s been done.”
Diho looked down at his stomach. “Well, what’s done is done. There’s nothing to go back on.”
Atreyu coughed and Diho got up, going to the small kitchen. He came back with a small cup.
“Drink this.” He said, helping Atreyu lift his head up.
He helped his friend take a drink and Atreyu laid back down, breathing heavily and looking completely exhausted just from that action alone.
“I don’t think I’m going to make it, milord…”
Diho frowned. “Don’t say that. You’ve gone through worse and have made it out alive. You will pull through.”
“Milord, I pulled through because there were doctors to rely on. No offense, but you are the crown prince, not a medical professional. Not only that, you don’t know anything about dragons.”
“Don’t rule me out, Atreyu.”
He smiled. “I’m not ruling you out, I’m being practical. It would be like asking me to run a country; I’m not qualified for it.”
Diho crossed his arms and looked away. “I’m not giving up on you.”
Atreyu smiled at his prince, wondering how in the world he came to have such a great and loyal friend, even in the midst of discovering the oddities of the dragon race of which he belonged.
Atreyu Thorn was the guardian of the Crown Prince of Culla, Dihojad Fellmore, or Diho for short. Atreyu was purchased for Diho to use as he saw fit, even at the young age of ten, but Diho wanted someone to be his friend more than a servant or a guardian, and so he treated Atreyu as an equal, but it was clear who carried which title in their name. They were inseparable and it was rare to see one without the other, so when Atreyu suddenly left without telling anyone, Diho assumed something was wrong. He tracked Atreyu down to get some answers and it turned out that neither of them had known that Atreyu was an orphan and was found by the orphanage when he was very small, which meant they knew nothing of his heritage. All Atreyu knew was that something was calling him and he had to go. With Diho at his side, they journeyed forth and ended up in Heigabar, the land of the dragons.
There, Diho was captured for being a human in the dragon realm and Atreyu was taken away. After months of imprisonment, Atreyu helped the prince escape so they could make their way back to Culla but Atreyu had already drunk a magical substance called barence, an opalescent fluid that was crimson in color and smelled like ashes. It was an elixir the dragons used during mating season that would make the drinker quite virile and lascivious, encouraging sexual release. It was a mixture of powdered moonstone, rose quartz, and carnelian mixed with water from soaked ashwagandha and black cohosh oil, all herbs and crystals associated with sexual awakening and fertility.
Due to Atreyu being raised as a human, he was unaware of the power of the elixir and how strong it would be…
In the end though, the dragons were not happy with Atreyu escaping Heigabar and they hunted them down. Atreyu was shot in the arm by one of their arrows, but it had some sort of poison on it and soon he couldn’t go on anymore. Now they were stuck on the outskirts of Culla with a prince who knew nothing of surviving outside of the palace and a guard who was unavailable to help.
“Your Highness?” Diho looked back at him. “Please don’t overexert yourself on my behalf.”
“Despite looking like I can’t do anything, I know how to do plenty. You just… get better.”
Diho stood back up and left the room.
That night, Diho went back into town and was finally able to get to the butcher before they closed. He bought a bunch of meat and carried it back to the cottage. He was unsure how to store it and went to ask Atreyu about it. He opened the door and saw Atreyu laying there, unmoving. Diho had a feeling that this was going to happen, but he didn’t think it was going to be so soon. He put the meat on the counter and went back into the room to double check. He put his fingers on Atreyu’s wrist, where he felt no pulse. He put his hand in front of his mouth to make sure there was no breath coming out when he thought he felt the tiniest of tiny breaths. Diho stood up and put his ear to his friend’s chest, finding a weak heartbeat, but a heartbeat nonetheless. He put his hands on Atreyu’s shoulders and shook him violently.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiWqTxExL1
“Atreyu! Atreyu, don’t give up on me!” he screamed. “No! You can’t leave me like this! How fucking dare you try to die while I’m not here! Are you a coward?! Huh?! Did you become a coward in death and you won’t even let me be there to send you off?!”
With all the screaming and threatening, it seemed to give a small bit of life back to Atreyu and he moved his golden eyes to look at his prince. Seeing the movement, Diho laughed in hysterics and shook him even more.
“Is that what you need?!” he yelled, trying not to break down. “Do you need me to threaten you and call you names? I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you in this life with me. I’ll call you the most vile names and step on all of your honor if it means that you will be by my side…” He pulled Atreyu into a hug and began to sob. “Please don’t leave me, Atreyu… Please don’t go where I can’t follow…”
He felt a small pull at the bottom of his back. “Di…ho…”
Diho put his hand on the back of Atreyu’s head and rocked with him.
“Yes, yes, it’s me! It’s me… It’s me…” he kept repeating.
“Diho,” Atreyu repeated and Diho finally pulled him away to look at him. “I can’t fight it anymore… You have to let me go…”
Diho’s expression turned dark, his green eyes suddenly carrying a hint of madness in them. “You won’t die. I won’t let you.”179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClCVcU4etl
“Diho…”
“Stop talking! You need doctors? You need medicine? I’ll get them for you. I’ll do anything you want me to as long as you don’t die on me.”
He stood up and grabbed a hold of Atreyu’s arm, throwing them over his shoulders. He pulled his friend onto his back as best as he could and he started to trudge to the doorway.
“Diho…”
“Shut up!” he snarled through his teeth.
“My prince!” Atreyu practically wailed. “Please stop this nonsense!”
“You are not nonsense.” The line was so unexpected that Atreyu didn’t know what to say. “I need you to be quiet so that I can get you the help that you need. If you die on me, I will resurrect you so that I can smack the shit out of you. You mean more to me than you will ever know.”179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPjHg2BKRc
“If you take me to your father, he will lock me up.”
“So be it. As long as he cures you, I can think of ways of escape after that. I would rather you be locked up and cured than have our freedom and you die. Especially like that. Have some fucking pride, moron. If you’re going to die, die in front of me.”
Atreyu chuckled softly. “My bad…”
“You’re running out of excuses. You just hang in there and let me get you the help you need. And also, dying while I’m carrying you would be literally dying behind my back and I won’t tolerate it. If you can’t hold on anymore, you tell me, got it?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Good.”
With that established, Diho made his way into town as fast as he could.
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