FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

(M/M Romance/Drama)

This is a full novella, so here is a list of chapters to CTRL+F your way to. Since I really doubt you'll be reading 121 pages in one sitting.

**First Chapter; Friendship**

**Second Chapter; The Depth Of A Heart**

**Third Chapter; Long Division**

**Fourth Chapter; Mixed Feelings**

**Fifth Chapter; More Than We Can Afford**

**Sixth Chapter; At Odds**

**Final Chapter; Forever**

It was a dreadful afternoon one could almost mistake for night on the second day of the ninth moon. The sky black and everything was seen through the grey haze of an unrelenting rain. This day would be viewed very differently by people hereafter. Two new lives were born into the world on that day, at nearly the same time. Both boys, and by fate's humour both bore the name of Soul, but in two different languages. One was welcome, one was not. The one named Sal opened his eyes to his mother and father, as well as an older brother all eager to give him his first hello. The one who was named Ame had only his dread filled mother with him.

Sal's family ignored the rain- far too occupied with the birth of a new family member. Ame's mother held him close but said nothing to him of fear of offering the child a love she could not deliver on. She listened closely to the rain as the only thing that could calm her nerves any. The local farmers worried a bit that the rain may be a bit too heavy for their crops- but would later look back longingly at the last good rainfall they had. For on this day, a beautiful snake woman slithered up the red carpet to the ruler of this great land; Regulus. His hair was the color of gold and made of small tight curls- it followed his jaw lines to complete the look of a mane, for he has the body of a man but features of a lion. His talon-like claws clicked impatiently on the arms of his regal throne. He held the title of Crown of Pianeta, and wore the ring of golden spikes known as a halo as the mark of his title. The snake woman stood up straight on her very thick tail as she stopped at the bottom of the red carpeted stairs leading to Regulus' throne. Her name is Jingshen; her serpentine people a nomadic one known for having clairvoyant powers.

Regulus sighed and motioned toward her with one paw-like hand. "Go on then, I will hear you."

Jingshen closed her cyan eyes a moment, taking a deep breath before opening them again. "I have seen a vision of the future, of this crowndom." She paused a moment, looking him right in the eyes. "I also know you will not believe me, and my words fall on deaf ears. For the sake of my conscience however, I will still tell you. Your crowndom will be brought to ruin by a man with a hundred faces. He speaks to people not yet born, to break a utopian future that has not yet come to be. This rain will be the last- this marks the turning point."

The two guards at either side of the steps chuckled, but Regulus only sighed. "Well, even had you not told us anything... I am pretty sure my men would stop and question anyone they encountered who happened to be in possession of one hundred faces. I know your people believe in a many-headed God, but Pianeta is yet to have anyone with more than one face."

Jingshen sighed. "It is as you say. I am sorry for wasting our time telling you this- but now you will have this moment to look back on, when I am proven correct."

And so she was. Ame and Sal grew up in a declining Pianeta. They saw rain again, but only light and short showers here and there. Crops started to dwindle. Winter came early and left later. The influence within the cities was felt in more forms than simple food shortages. Marketplaces started to struggle, the economy sunk at a slow but steady pace. Thievery and crime in general started to rise up. The once golden city started to look like tarnished brass. To further credit the tale of the serpent woman, these conditions only seemed to affect Pianeta itself- none of the surrounding area. Gimsteinn the crown of Isola was enjoying more prosperity than ever. Isola was a crowndom built on a massive island out in the sea. Its weather had turned for the better, being unnaturally good. They made a fortune selling their abundance to Pianeta so it could feed its own people. It was a good thing the two crowndoms were always allies- Isola could easily bleed Pianeta dry in a situation like this if it wanted.

The two boys born together but apart eventually met one another- at first at a church. Sal's mother was a religious woman, so while Sal did not believe in this God Luaithre, he was stuck wandering the church bored while his mother attended. He met Ame there and the two hit it off right away. Ame took Sal around the church to areas he did not know existed. The building was ancient- formerly used as a bastion against invading forces in a war long ago with a crowndom that Pianeta had reduced ultimately to ruin. Ironically, the priest of the church now is one of the few descendants of the crowndom of ash. Sal was surprised by how familiar Ame was with the building even though they were the same age- and found out it was because Ame lived in the church. He was not visiting like Sal- Ame had been found by the priest Athair on the doorstep of the church. From this day on though, Sal actually looked forward to going to church with his mother. He visited Ame on every trip and they arranged meetings outside of the church to play together as well. From doing chores, helping clean up the massive church Ame was surprisingly strong for his age, and a bit taller than Sal.

Ame was taught by Athair, who was wise in his old age- and aided by the large library contained within the church. Though all the books in it were donated- because the church is so old, the collection was huge. Ame was a little human boy, but Athair was part bird- peacock to be exact. Over his pants was a gigantic fan of long prismatic feathers that trailed behind him like an overly long coat-tail. His legs were human but a bit on the long side, and his hands were mostly human but his flesh darkened to charcoal grey toward his fingertips and became increasingly stiff and banded toward the tips as well. Instead of nails he had talons- the narrow points made turning pages of books easy. His face was humanoid but he had triangular plates down his nose that slightly overlapped one another, and gave the end of his nose a downward point- looking like a short beak if viewed dead-on from the front.

Ame was following Athair down a stone hallway in the deeper reaches of the church one day when he decided to bring it up. "Father, why do you have claws and feathers, but I don't? My friend Sal doesn't either... was he adopted too?"

Athair smiled and turned to him, reaching over and tugging on his ear tip, careful not to touch it with his talon tips. "Your ears are already pointed more than a human. Everyone is born human like you. As your personality develops you will become more beast. How much you turn depends on your personality."

"Do... people turn all the way? Are all the animals just humans who turned all the way?"

"No, no. Some people do turn all the way beast, but it is rare- they must be very emotionally unstable to begin with for that to happen. Alliances are also often apparent from the beast a person becomes. For the crowndom of ashes where my people formerly lived, most were avian, and thus so am I, even still. Most of the nomads are serpents, and so forth."

"So... how do mean people exist?"

"Hmm? What do you mean Ame?"

"If people become a beast from the way they act or who they are with, wouldn't you be able to tell if someone was mean by what beast they are?"

"It is not always so obvious, and the older a person gets the more set in their ways they become. I for one am a peacock- a creature of great pride and boasting, yet as a priest I boast little, and hail from a crowndom that was erased from history." Athair raised his huge tail and fanned it out- taking up all the space behind him in the hallway. "My feathers still shine bright to boast, but not of my own deeds. I now boast of the tales of the God Luaithre, the one who guides us. People can hide their intentions, and repress parts of their personality. This can hide their beast's nature as well, but only temporarily. Sadly when you prevent someone from doing evil one way- they inevitably invent another."

"Do you... know what I will become? A lion, like crown Regulus?!"

Athair chuckled and pat his head, closing his huge tail back into a resting position. "That, my boy, is up to you."

Luaithre made for an unusual God. His name was in the tongue of the people from the crowndom of ash, yet was worshipped everywhere in the known world. Some have even claimed to see him appear briefly. Everyone is born human but no one remains human past puberty at the latest- at least not wholly, yet in all depictions of Luaithre, he is a grown man, with no animal aspect. A long narrow beard, his skin is shrunken to reveal the bone below, his eyes sunken in, and always swathed in a large hooded robe carrying a scythe with him. Luaithre is supposed to be a guide, to bring people into this world rather than dictate what goes on in the world itself.

As time went on, Sal and Ame continued to spend a lot of time together and unsurprisingly when they started to show animal traits, they were both the same animal. Dog. Common beasts for children due to the playful nature of puppies, but few remain dogs. They either stop following the orders of their masters and turn into another beast entirely, or become even more aggressive in their loyalties and turn into wolves. Their ears changed first, but their feet were the most noticeable change as it altered the way they moved. Their feet extended some distance, lifting their ankles from the ground and forcing them to put all their weight on the front of their foot alone. Because of this, the flesh on it puffed up and darkened to black to act as padding, as well as the underside of their toes which became shorter and less flexible as the nails became more narrow, thick, and long. Essentially their feet had transformed into dog paws- though devoid of fur. Their fingers became a bit shorter and thicker, and the skin puffed up a bit on the insides like they wanted to turn into paws too- but never did. They both grew tails as well, of about the same length- roughly a foot long. Sal's ears were tall and narrow, always alert. His hair golden and wavy cut long enough to reach his jawline; his tail had fur to match, hanging off it heavily. Ame's tail was covered with a fine black fur making it very narrow in appearance, and his ears folded over at their ends. His hair was swept back and straight, shorter than Sal's.

As the boys grew older, Sal often found himself in trouble. Fearless and boastful like his family, bullies liked to try and pick fights with him, and children of poor families were resentful of him and his kin, and also picked fights. Sal's father Skepna was a high rank Regulator- the policing force of Pianeta. Formerly a dire wolf in form, once he married his black-cat wife, he took the form of a tiger. Rather than orange with black stripes however, he was black with gold stripes. He was always busy training Sal's elder brother Likami to join the Regulators as well, so often overlooked Sal, who was too young yet to train. Luckily for Sal- Ame was bigger and stronger than most his age and quick to step in. Sal would never ask for help, and always try to win his own fights, but rarely was he able to. As soon as he smelled trouble, Ame stepped in to save him. Ame was not aggressive by nature, nor outspoken like Sal, but in spite of that he knew how to throw a punch. It also helped that the children mature enough to understand Ame was raised by Athair feared repercussions of trying to fight him. Sal's family was backed up by the police force of the crowndom- but the church existed in every crowndom. The church's forces were independent, and its combined might greater than any one crowndom. Their parents could pull strings to give their children privileges in the school system- but the church can overrule any authority it sees fit to protect its own. If Ame returned to the church battered and bruised, someone was going to pay for it. Athair knew of the fighting- but also knew Ame only raised his fists in defense of a friend- there was nothing wrong with that.

The crowndom did not recover any as the two grew up. The situation became increasingly dire. What had simply been a cheaper area of the city to live in became a run down, disease ridden hovel for the lower class. Taxes were raised as Regulus struggled to try to hold his sinking ship together. Isola had been like a little brother to Pianeta, but now Pianeta teetered on utter ruin while Isola stood mighty. It was now often people seen the Exalt Majhul entering and leaving the palace to advise the crown. Majhul was well travelled and gathered information from beyond the crowndom's borders. Though information trickled down as whispers and rumours- people started to talk of Isola possibly putting a curse on Pianeta. One crowndom suddenly prospered while another dwindles when both had formerly been on equal ground. The rumours were said to have come from Majhul's advise to Regulus, but how the information would have gotten out of the palace without either of their consent was left unsaid. The puppy boys eventually grew into young dogs, two close friends trying to live in a crowndom turned rancid. The now quite old Athair advised Ame to find somewhere cheap to live when he went to move out. Save his money, and move to Isola- leave this dying land behind. From the bell tower in the church you could easily see Isola, like the light of dawn on the horizon. The church was built on a hill that fell into a steep cliff far, far over the ocean so the view was breathtaking, and a bit unnerving depending on how close you got to the edge. While Ame did odd jobs for simple labour to save up his coins- he actually did not plan to move away even if he had the money to. He could not bring himself to abandon Sal. He had also never been to Isola, so he was entirely unfamiliar. Abandoning all you have known to wander into a new place and build from scratch was not an easy task for anyone. Procrastinating, Ame told himself he would move when Pianeta truly hit rock bottom- if the land he grew up in was finally no longer livable.

Sal had even more problems than Ame though. It started when he was fifteen; his mother became deathly ill because of the rampant sickness going around through the poor areas of Pianeta- it bled into the richer sectors here and there as well. Regulus did what he could to have the alchemists get it under control, but it was more than one type of illness. They did not have the funds to buy resources to maintain everything properly. The poor maintenance of the cities caused squalor which bred disease from the low quality of life. People died in this way quite often, but Sal's father Skepna took particular offense when it was his wife who died. Skepna was already a brute of a man from a long line of high ranking Regulators- his wife had somewhat acted as the sheath to his sword. With her dead he became even more aggressive, turning his anger on his crown. Trying to keep the poor alive in these conditions was like trying to bail out a sinking ship with a spoon, but their family was wealthy and still she died of illness? If Regulus cannot keep his own elite on their feet, then the entire crowndom was teetering on the edge of something grim. Sal always assumed once his older brother Likami joined the Regulators that their father would finally pay attention to him, and train him. The grim situation called more attention of the Regulators, and now compounded by Skepna's rage toward their ruler called all of his attention away. Skepna and Likami continued to ignore Sal, and now he no longer had a mother either. Skepna insisted he join the Regulators as well, but Sal defied him and looked for regular work, along with his friend Ame.

Tension between Isola and Pianeta increased, as rumours continued to swirl of Isola secretly being behind their downfall, and Isola getting an influx of thieves coming from Pianeta! The crowndom overflowed with them, but rumours in Isola were that the thieves were actually sent by Regulus himself to try and steal resources. There was even whispers of war between the two crowndoms- though on paper they still regarded each other as allies. One night, Ame was resting in his apartment after a long day of work and Sal came knocking on his door.

Ame answered the door to see Sal looking like he was trying to repress anger- his ears pulled back tightly. "What is it? What is wrong?"

"Can I stay with you for a bit?"

"Y-yea, of course."

Ame let him in and put on some tea to try and calm him down. Sal had not unclenched his fists since he arrived. Skepna apparently considered their family further insulted when Regulus started to heavily tax the wealthier of the populace- mandatorily distributing the wealth and resources from the rich to the poor to try to equalize everyone, in an effort to slow the decay of their crowndom. Skepna was apparently not too keen on sharing- but more so than that, he did not like the idea behind it. His family had served the crowndom for generations as members of its elite protectors- that fortune was hard earned savings from his entire family line, and now he was forced to give it back. It was like being forced to return a trophy. Returning the money seemed like Regulus telling Skepna his family's efforts were no longer appreciated. Now Skepna planned to move to Isola, and abandon Regulus. Sal was angry at his father's pride, angry at his neglect, and refused to abandon the place he grew up in- the place his mother was buried in. Ame was his only truly close friend, and he could not bear the bitter cold of the world without his friend at his side. An odd twist of fate then, that both Ame and Sal remain in Pianeta ultimately for one another, but neither knew the other was the primary reason for staying.

**Second Chapter; The Depth Of A Heart**

Later that evening, Ame decided to take Sal out to a bar to get his mind off his woes for a while. He brought him to a hidden nook in the middle class area of the city- a bar he frequented himself. Ame sat down at the counter and ordered them both drinks, then motioned to the bar keep.

"And this is Mingyun by the way- best mixologist you will ever find."

She rolled her eyes at him with a subdued smile. Mingyun was a snake woman- her hip trailed into an especially huge tail she slithered around on. Her torso was entirely human, but her back was covered with millions of tiny fan-shaped scales. If you looked at her from a distance it would look like she wore a hood, but on closer examination one would see that it isn't part of her top at all. The hood was flesh- she is part cobra. When relaxed, it formed a sort of bowl over her head like a normal hood does- it fused just above her brow and there was a slight bit of excess skin that formed a sort of 'lip'. She had a human head otherwise- but no hair because the hood fused to where it would be. It was also pierced several times- simple steel rings trailed tiny chains criss-cross from one side of the hood to the other like a metal web.

Sal was immediately transfixed on her beautiful cyan eyes. "Member of the nomads?"

Mingyun let out a soft sigh. "No, my mother is though. I never really developed any clairvoyance and rather than keep at it I kind of just threw in the towel, haha. This place used to be a fortune teller parlour, but... mom said this crowndom was doomed so she could not properly tell its future- it has no future to tell."

Another good looking woman came and rest an empty platter on the counter beside Ame. "Hey you."

"Oh! Hey Naomh, this is my close friend Sal."

Sal timidly half-waved at the woman. "Jeez Ame, do you know everyone around here? I didn't know you were such a player."

Ame laughed. "Oh, it's not like that! Naomh visits the church from time to time. Mingyun I just know because I usually sit at the counter- and her personality is the reason I am a regular here, not the drinks."

Naomh is avian- a descendant of the crowndom of ash, just like father Athair. Her tail was a short fan of feathers, but above that grew giant black feathered wings on her lower back- when folded around her hip they formed a long black skirt. The keratin plates on the bridge of her nose were sharper than Athair, and stuck out a bit more at the end. Her nails were claws but the skin on her hands still soft and fully human. She is part condor. It was hard to read her usually- she always seemed sad but always said there was nothing wrong. Ame worried about her a bit though- she seemed almost afraid to approach the rowdier customers, which was a problem given she is one of the servers.

Ame looked to Sal, who thankfully was already looking in better spirits. "So, what are you going to do about your brother and father? Think you can talk them into staying?"

"Pff, and put up with their constant moaning? He is an arrogant old ass and only cares about me as far as his pride as a father carries him. I don't care a lick if he buggers off- nor would I mind if their boat sprung a leak and sank to the bottom of the sea on the way there."

"But... oh. You mean to stay with me... permanently?" Ame did not mean to imply that he would be against it.

"N-no! Just a few days probably. I can find a place of my own, I am sure. I mean, I already have a job as a private guard."

That had been a slight to his father as well- though one that was made deliberately. Rather than join the Regulators, Sal joined a private guard hired by citizens to help keep the poor areas a bit safer. The job was almost identical, but paid less. The primary difference was that a private guard does not protect Regulus. They are not paid or controlled by the crown, they are hired by the people, for the people.

Ame looked a bit nervous. "Well... it might be harder than you think. The place I found was the last one available in the area around here. Large sections of the outlaying city are closed off because the city cannot afford to keep up their maintenance, so most of the homes out there have become condemned. If someone dies of illness they just condemn the house regardless of what the illness was, because no one can flip the bill having the house properly sanitized."

Mingyun nodded. "And because of the increased tension with Isola, the island isn't accepting just anyone. Your old man must have high status or a deep pocketbook to be able to just choose to go. Most people are either left homeless here or try to make a long dangerous treck to the next closest city- Basilius."

Sal crossed his arms. "Well I would rather sleep in a gutter than follow him. He will not command me like his lackeys!"

"He will start looking for you soon, though."

They all turned to see an older snake woman slithering up from one of the staff only doors. With beautiful cyan eyes, unlike Mingyun her tail was not that long but extremely thick- leading into large hips. The end of her tail was engulfed in several rings of tiny round brass bells- she is part rattlesnake.

Mingyun looked at her a bit surprised she would come down while the bar was still open. "Oh, mom. What did you need?"

Her mother looked right at Sal, then at Ame, narrowing her eyes a bit trying to discern the unseen. "I have simply come down to see these two. It is interesting..."

Sal sat up straighter. "You can see the future? My future?"

"I can. My name is Jingshen, it was I who warned Regulus of the crowndom's doom. You... are... Sal? Or Ame?"

"S-sal." He pointed to Ame. "He is Ame."

"It is most interesting, indeed. For some reason I cannot discern your futures from one another. I see the exact same futures for both of you. You were both born at the exact same moment and somehow your fates have become irreparably tangled. Your father Skepna will start looking for you soon; he is using the loyalties with the Regulators to recover you. He intends to force you to join them in their exodus to Isola."

Sal slammed a fist on the counter. "Damnit!"

Jingshen lowered her head and shook it softly. "He will not find you. You and Ame ask me what can be done, and I tell you to go to the crowndom of ash. There has not been anyone there for ages and Rex happens to be near one of its borders. No one will think to look for you there."

Sal quickly downed a drink and smacked Ame on the shoulder, telling him they should get going. Ame was not sure it would be much of the adventure Sal seemed to think it would be, but would not hessitate to follow him anywhere regardless.

When the two young men dashed out, Mingyun looked to her mother. "Why such an interest in them? You have not told a fortune in some time."

"Something has altered their fate, they are not where they should be. The man of one hundred faces has also broken free from the bonds of fate."

Mingyun lowered her head a bit. "Oh no... don't tell me those two are going to get tangled up in that mess..."

Ame and Sal hitchhiked their way as far out from Rex as possible on transport carriages looking to gather resources for the city. The two talked to each other about nothing and everything as they hiked toward the edge of the crowndom of ash. The formerly cobbled roads became increasingly scattered by trees and brush, making it simply look like scattered, partially exposed stones. The bones of homes that once were became scattered about- almost camouflaged in the tall grass, covered in moss and shrubs as well. The crowndom had been defeated so badly that no one cared to even remember its actual name. They left in the early evening so it was very early morning by the time they even got there. They kept each other awake as they walked in the oddly fresh air. Knowing no one would ever come here normally made it calming, even if it was very dark. No fire lights out here. The sky was filled with a trillion stars glittering. They found their way to a huge mostly moss-buried circle of stones in the ground- the remnants of a town square. Surrounded by only partially standing, weathered building remains. There was a broken fountain in the middle that trickled water onto the ground that veined out between the stones of the former road to feed the moss. Sal and Ame ended up slipping into one of the ruined buildings and fell asleep quickly, back to back against a half standing wall with only the sky above them.

Ame woke up as the sun was coming up, but was startled to find his body did not move! He thought he was perhaps dreaming still but everything was too vivid, he was definitely awake. His body did not move at all though- his eyes were the only thing he had control over! He squinted at the doorless doorway as the light of dawn played tricks on his eyes. When he focussed there he was able to see the form of a woman! Her body was translucent though, looking like it was made of pure energy! He could not focus on her facial features at all, as if they were in constant flux.

She drifted toward him slightly before pausing again. "It has been some time since anyone living has been here..." Her voice was several different voices speaking at once. "We are Cuileann. We are... not a person, but rather a remnant of several people who once were." She watched the fear in Ame's eyes. "You need not speak; we can hear your thoughts."

*I cannot move!*

"Temporary. In order to see us, you must be partially disconnected with your physical being."

*What do you want from me?!*

"To set us free. We are the souls of those who never obtained our goals. We were killed in a brutal battle, so we were never able to obtain what we wanted. Without bodies, we still can never obtain anything, but we can give you something. Tell us your wish so that we may expend our being to grant it. Giving you what you wish will allow us to finally rest."

It was in this moment Ame started to fully comprehend how valuable a friend Sal was; for in trying to think of a wish, he kept thinking of Sal. Money can be spent, and material things lost. What Ame wished for was that he and Sal could never be divided- that they be together to the end.

The spectral woman smiled and bowed her head, her body already starting to vanish like the morning mist in the rising sun. "Then barring a power greater than my own- you shall never be separated."

Ame's consciousness slipped back into his tired body and he returned to sleep as the phantom faded away in the bright light of the coming day. When Ame woke again he was not sure if he should regard what he seen as a dream or not. Dreams are not usually quite so vivid nor organized.

Val was already awake, now against the opposite wall just watching Ame quietly while he slept, and smiled timidly as he woke. "Man... we did not plan this excursion out at all, did we?"

Ame chuckled as he stood up and listened to his joints pop. "Just figured that out now? I mean, your father was going to catch you otherwise, right? I don't imagine we had a lot of time to plan even if we wanted."

Sal huffed. "Yea. My old man is probably already gone. He wanted to get out fast- once word got out that he was abandoning his post and switching sides, a lot of people were bound to be upset about it."

Ame sighed as he wandered into the doorway to let the sun warm him directly. "You never used to clash with your family so much..."

"I was foolishly optimistic."

"Heh, you almost make me glad I have no kin."

Sal pat him on the shoulder as he scoot by to start their long walk home. "You are more family to me than they ever were. Family does not always mean by blood. Athair I am sure did his best to raise you, and you will always have me in your corner."

They walked slow but steady- both hungry but having nowhere to get food for miles. The lush untamed grass felt good on the pads of their feet. There was footwear designed around paws- but it was mostly cosmetic since paws already have pads to protect against harder ground, and the boys never bothered. Their best chance was to do what they had in reverse from the night before- get to the road out of the city at its farthest point and hope to find a transport heading back into the city to hitch a ride on. Ame could not help but smile as he walked just behind Sal. Sal had an aggressive personality, and was quick to get himself in trouble. Smaller than Ame, but not by too much. His eyes were emerald green and sparkled in the sunlight. He was handsome and fit- not quite up to par with a blade as his kin but still a lot better than most. Ame was not sure if what he seen the night before was a dream or not, but if he had another chance at a wish he would not change it. As good looking as the girls in the bar were- Ame was still more attracted to Sal. Now that the spirit made him think more on it, he was starting to wish they were more than just close friends. Ame was almost delirious enough from hunger and thirst as they approached the main road to speak up about it to Sal but seen his friend's narrow pointed ears start to pull back.

His older brother Likami walked toward them, looking none too pleased. Dressed in armor of hardened leather, now devoid of any emblems indicating he was a Regulator. Unlike Sal, Likami was a mix of canine and feline. His ears were tall and narrow like Sal but his hair and even skin was black as night, like a panther's hide. His nails were hooked claws like a cat, but his tail long and bushy like a wolf. His mouth was filled with sharp fangs and unlike the rest of his kin, his face was ever so slightly pushed out into a pseudo muzzle. Likami was more savage than the others, and thus more animal. His savagery was the source of his father's pride toward him, and a useful tool when directed at criminals. Tools can be misused though. Sal told Ame to stay back and let him handle it.

Likami growled at his younger brother as he approached. "Betrayer!"

"Said the man betraying his crowndom to run off to a pretty island paradise. I would tell you where to stick your hypocrisy but I doubt you could find room around the stick you already have up there."

"I could rip you to pieces!" His claws tensed.

"You could also turn around and go back the way you came. The options are endless!"

Likami lunged at him, claws first! "No one will find your body out here! I will not let you disgrace the father who lovingly raised us!!"

Sal jumped back, grabbed Likami's right arm and threw him to the side to deflect the attack. "Lovingly raised you, you mean? I don't recall him ever getting around to me."

Likami turned faster than Sal could react this time, and left four red streaks across his upper right arm, slashing through his clothes like they were nothing. Sal punched him in the face and Likami returned the favor. They hit one another several times before Sal tried to sweep Likami's legs. Likami stumbled but did not fall, and reached behind himself to grab a dirk from a holder across his lower back- he was actually planning to kill Sal! Ame felt a strange squirming of growth in his upper back, but was too worried of losing Sal to pay it any mind as he flew forward with surprising speed. Feeling unusually fleet footed, when Likami turned to see him, he jumped up and kneed Likami in the chin! Likami snarled at him, slashing him across the gut with his talons on his free hand before going to stab him with the other.

Likami was ripped off his feet by a gargantuan figure on horseback! Everyone had been so distracted with the fight none of them seen the figure approaching- even though he was very hard to miss. Even on his own two feet he stood nearly ten feet tall- he had to have an unusually bulky war horse just to be able to lift him.

Likami squirmed in his grip but it was no use- he would not let go. "Ch-Chevalier, what are you doing in the middle of nowhere?! This is a family matter, it does not concern you."

Chevalier is one of the Crowned Shields- Regulus' elite royal guards, and not at all someone you wanted to fuck with. Part man, part white bull. He was so freakishly muscular he could not wear normal armor, because no one made a size capable of fitting him. He wore a helmet that also fit over his horns- covering them with the reliefs of armed warriors. He did not have a snout but the bridge and end of his nose was still shaped like a bulls, as well as his ears, a tail, and his lower legs.

Chevalier spoke in a thunderously deep voice, and occasionally snorted by accident when taking a sharp breath. "Actually, as circumstances would have it, there is news that you and your father have forsaken your duties to move to Isola. I was assigned to make sure you got to where you needed to be, safe and sound. Seems you missed your boat unlike your father, so I followed you." He turned Likami in his hand so he could face him. "So either you can get on the next boat- or I will arrest you for assaulting one of our citizens. You are no longer of our crowndom- he is. If you touch either of these young men, it will be seen as an attack on our land." He brought his face close and snorted hot air onto Likami's face. "And I kill people who attack our land."

Likami was told to sit on the back of the horse for Chevalier to deliver personally to the docks and get him the hell out of their land as soon as possible. The bull then looked back to Ame and Sal, holding the cuts Likami gave them with his talon like claws.

"I will send someone back to give you two a ride- do not wander far. I will tell them to bring healing potions. There are no actual prohibitions on coming to these lands, but I would really advise against it. Some people have reported seeing phantoms around these parts- and no one usually comes here. You were lucky I was tracking him this time and found you. If someone decided to attack you out here normally, there would be no help."

Ame bowed slightly to him. "Thank you, kind knight."

Sal nodded. "Yea, you saved our tails. Heh, I don't suppose you could help me with my home problem too?"

"Hmm?"

"N-nothing. It's just... my family uprooted itself, as you know, and housing is scarce I hear."

Chevalier smirked and then shrugged. "You have a house, as far as I can tell. Your family are dead to this land now, which would cause their owned property to default to the next of kin. I believe that is you."

The two thanked the giant bull knight again as he rode off to get rid of Likami and send a ride back for Ame and Sal. Ame felt odd and cramped on his back and his shirt felt off since the attack, so Sal had to help him out. Ame was forced to remove his shirt because he had grown two entirely new limbs! On his back was two small black feathered bird wings! He had grown them during the attack, which is also why he felt so light on his feet- his bones altered structure making them lighter.

Sal laughed. "Must be all the time you spend with your girlfriend Noamh from the bar, huh?"

Ame blushed. "I- she isn't my girlfriend! I am single, and I don't even see her very often. Changes are based off personality as well as alliances; I must just have personality traits like the avian people who used to live here." That also made Ame think it might have something to do with his conversation with one of their ghosts the other night, but he did not mention that aloud.

Sal was surprised Ame was still single- he was a good looking guy. Looking at his bare torso now Sal couldn't help but admire it. He would have liked to get closer, but did not want to weird Ame out. His body- similar to Sal- is lean but muscular. Ame had no combat training like Sal, but he had always done jobs of physical labour. The two would not have to wait long for the knightly outriders to pick them up and return them. Both young men would remember that day, for slightly different reasons. But for both it was a point where they started to regard each other with a different type of fondness.

**Third Chapter; Long Division**

As time sped past the two would continue to help one another and remained close- but neither admitting the extent of their feelings to the other for risk of ruining what they had. Not long after Sal took his family house for his own, his features started to change. No longer prepressed by the presence of his demanding father. The end of his nose became textured slightly as it turned black and cool to the touch- his lips as well turned matte black. He grew thin whiskers from above his lips and the start of his eyebrows- now part fox rather than dog, so his long narrow ears now matched his alter species better. His tail grew longer and bushier and the end grew out white rather than golden blonde like the rest.

Ame's new wings grew larger as time went on, eventually stopping at a pretty impressive size. If he relaxed them, their tips touched the ground. Each wing was almost as long as his body is tall. But since he does not have hollow bones, he is still entirely unable to fly. If he were to climb up something he could use his wings to glide a distance, but that was as close to flying as he was going to get. What started as investigation ended in a back massage as Sal helped investigate the wings a bit closer for Ame- since Ame could not properly see his own backside. The wings had their own set of smaller shoulder blades that connected higher up to the spine. Arms connect to the blades in the front and to the edges, while the wings were on the back of the blades- so while the two sets of shoulder blades occasionally can rub together, they do not disrupt the joints. The black feathers ended right where the wings met his back, and then a small triangular patch of down feathers trailed from the base toward his spine. Ame found if he beat his wings while running, he can use the air pressure to project himself forward faster than he could have with just his legs. A common comment on Ame?s wings was that he looked a bit like an angel- soft features but still quite masculine body with big wings. Not to mention he was raised in a church by a priest. Ame admitted that probably had the most influence- Athair is an avian and raised Ame. It took its time, but his features must have finally brushed off.

Eventually the two grew into full men. Job opportunities came and went often. People who had hired them went under and they would have to look for new work, but physical labour and men of arms were in no smaller demand, so while their employers oft changed, their work remained steady. Ame lived in a small apartment so when the two hung out, it was more often at Sal's small mansion. It grew a bit musty since one working man had no way of maintaining it all, it was still a real nice place. Eventually work did start to slow down, and the gaps between finding new work expanded, straining any savings the two had set side. The crowndom had not gotten any worse, but it had also not gotten any better. Resources saved up for a rainy day had run dry- people's safety nets given out.

Ame was visiting his favorite bar again, nursing a drink to try and stretch it out. "You aren't watering down your drinks, are you Mingyun?"

She turned to him so quickly all her chains jingled. "I would never! It's because you are just sipping on it- your liver is breaking the stuff down at the same speed your drinking it. Booze ain't a sipping drink- hot chocolate is a sipping drink."

He groaned. "I might not be able to visit here as much, soon. Money is tight..."

Mingyun looked a bit defeated herself. "Aww, don't say that, hun. Y'know booze technically counts as a food, right? So you could save on groceries by coming here~"

Ame chuckled a bit. "I guess you are no better off than I."

"No, most likely worse. My mom hasn't been able to tell fortunes properly so she cannot make any money. With such garbage weather the crops don't do well, so materials to brew are expensive as hell. I have no shortage of people who WANT to spend their money here. The problem is, they can't afford it, and even I can barely afford it."

Naomh returned to the counter to fill up her platter and deliver another round of drinks, but brushed up beside Ame. "Hey... our favorite customer!"

Ame managed a genuine smile. "Noamh. Good to see you are still hanging in there."

"Y-yea, just barely. Hey... uhm..." She leaned in closer and lowered her voice a bit. "I always thought you were a handsome guy but never could bring myself to say it before. Would you maybe... want to forget the troubles of day to day and maybe go out sometime? I promise I am a cheap date."

Ame was so surprised when he turned on his stool he almost fell right off. "O-oh, what, with me? I mean... yes of course you mean with me, haha. Oh. I... actually already have someone..."

"Oh! Jeez, I am sorry, I never knew!"

"It's fine, you had no way of knowing, and you are a great person and all-"

"Ahah, no it's fine. I gotta get back to work. You know how rowdy these damn drunks get."

Naomh quickly scurried off before Mingyun was even able to fully load up her tray. After a long awkward pause Mingyun looked back to Ame while polishing a mug. "I never knew you had someone either, and we always talk."

"It's... complicated. Is she going to be alright? I feel awful. Naomh is such a nice woman and always so hard working..."

Mingyun chuckled. "Relationships aren't earned like money. The heart wants what it wants. She... is in a bit of a weird place right now anyway. She might not have meant what she said. But... don't dump sympathy on her, it will just make her feel worse. Just keep treating her like a friend and she will land on her own feet."

"You too Mingyun- you are both good friends. Hell, I consider you almost like an older sister. Whenever I need advice or someone to talk to and Sal isn't around- I come here."

"Well, shucks." Mingyun looked at Naomh serving drinks with a timid smile, trying to pretend like nothing happened. Then to Ame watching her, clearly feeling sorry for her. "And hey... you know you can still come here... even if you don't have the money. You are more than a customer to us too, so." She chuckled. "And I can still serve you drinks on the house, if you don't mind them being unorthodox."

Ame smiled but shook his head. "Knowing you are struggling with money too? I am not mooching."

Mingyun opened her mouth breifly and where two canine teeth should be, two extremely long fangs folded out and she clicked a fingernail on it to point it out before closing her mouth again. "I can make drinks for free, using my own venom. It isn't on the menu because people tend to not want to drink literal poison from out of my body, but I mean all alcohol is technically poison. As long as I water it down, it won't hurt you."

"Wait, really? You're... venomous?" He scrunched up his brow as he thought about it more. "Wait, what happens if you accidentally bite your tongue?"

Mingyun snorted in laughter. "I don't. My fangs are not used to chew food- they fold back, I can't bite anything with them unless I deliberately fold them out. Wanna know a secret though?" She leaned forward; glancing around to make sure no one was looking as she rest her large breasts on the counter and started to pull her top back. Ame put his hands up as if defending himself and went to look away, embarrassed. "I am not going to show you anything lewd... you prude." She pulled her shirt back far enough to show him two subtle scar marks on the outer left curve of her left breast. "I am immune to my own poison; it just causes me to swell up. So, if I bite my own breasts..."

"You can make them bigger, for a while. Neat trick, but I imagine a bit painful."

"Eh, no pain, no gain." She smirked at him with a raised brow. "I never saw a guy so quick to shy away from a pair of tits. Your girlfriend must have you on a right tight leash t-... wait a minute."

Ame shook his head, already knowing where she was going with this. "Ah, it's..."

"You don't swing that way, do you? Does Sal know you... wait, is Sal you're-?!"

"I told you, it's complicated." He sighed, resting his chin on his palm as he looked back to Naomh doing her rounds. "Wish I had the courage she does to just come out with it."

She lowered her voice even more. "You're right, that does sound complicated."

Sal did not hear that part of the conversation, though. Already blocks away in the cool but dry night air. Sal was going to visit the bar himself, but walked in just as Naomh was asking Ame out. He did not remain long enough to hear Ame's reply. At the door of the forboding barracks he stood for several moments just looking at the wood grain of the huge door before knocking. The outside was lit by only a single lantern swarmed by moths, as soon as the door opened the bright light from within spilled into the night. The man who answered the door was mostly hidden under a gigantic cloak with woven gold embroidered trim. He stood around ten feet tall and had very long pointed elven ears and heavily ribbed horns that looked like they belonged on a mountain goat.

The giant's voice very rugged and almost hard to listen to for any length of time. "You again, pup? You said you were uncertain earlier. This merry little band demands a certain level of loyalty and trust between us... so let me ask you again- are you certain you want to join us?"

"I am, now. I wish to be one of your mercenaries."

He nodded with a reserved smile, stepping to the side and motioning in. "Well then, best we get started."

The band of mercenaries known as the Clay Pigeons was founded and run by their grim leader, Gumeong. His hair was grey-brown and neatly combed back- his beard was extremely long and tied in a large, long braid. He was partially blind in his left eye and the scar was obvious- it healed while he was mostly unconscious so it healed shut- there was a narrow strip of skin connecting his top and bottom eyelid at all times. His eyes were blood red, but when his emotions gained intensity they became brighter and started to glow. Before forming his group he had travelled to many crowndoms doing work for many different people. He learned a great many things of culture, legends, and life in general. Because of these constant changes though- his body under that cloak was absolutely monsterous. He is a Chimera. His hands like giant bear paws, but with longer more narrow digits to allow him to use them like human hands. His feet were giant bird legs- his talons clicked on the floor as he walked. He had a second head on his chest, with a much smaller half-merged torso on the middle of his chest as well. The smaller head had long wild hair and its arms were like mantis scythes. Down the middle of both their chests was a ridge of hard scutes like the spine of a turtle. On Gumeong's back was a gigantic pair of wyvern wings he could use as supplementary legs when he goes down on all fours- since his left arm ends at the elbow. He lost the rest to battle. His spine projected out a ways toward the bottom of his torso as it trailed into a gigantic tail even his cloak could do nothing to cover up. At the end of it was yet another head- the head of a serpent. It had large dewlaps but the edge was tattered; he had tried to adorn himself with piercings in the past but every one of them eventually got torn out, so he just gave up. Each of his heads had its own brain, so while all three were technically the same person they were all capable of individual thought, and they did argue with one another on occasion. You could see what had given him his grim voice- a jagged edged scar around his throat where someone had tried to strangle him to death with barbed wire in the past. Sal was not sure what was more unsettling about that- the fact someone tried to use barbed wire to strange someone, or the fact Gumeong survived.

He explained the rules of the Clay Pigeons as he wandered the halls and introduced Sal to people as they passed on a tour. They were never to take conflicting jobs, for starters. They can be hired individually- so it?s possible two opposing factions try to hire men to pit them against each other. Clay Pigeons will fight other people's wars for them, but not against other Clay Pigeons. In the event something like that happens- their service goes to the highest bidder. The main rule- and the rule all mercenaries follow- they are vehemently loyal at all times, to coin. They will do whatever the hell you want, as long as you pay. The minute you run out of pocket change- they run out of fucks to give. They do anything for gold, but do nothing for free. Gumeong had three bases for the Clay Pigeons- one here in Rex, another in Basilius, and the other across the way on Isola. If the other two locations require more men, they can be shipped out at any moment. The money was always good, and the work always steady though.

Though muscular and average height outside of these walls- Sal quickly noted he may be the smallest person in the mercenary group. They were all giants! The second smallest was Hestur- a horse. He had giant hooves in place of feet that were capped with spike-rimmed horse shoes. His tail was cut short, and his body covered with fine horse pelt. He was monstrously muscular with giant upper back and arm muscles. His neck was long and extremely thick with a short bristly charcoal colored mane. The bridge of his nose was huge and so were his nostrils, and he had equine ears. Other than that, he was humanoid. On duty he holds a bit in his mouth with a large ring of spikes coming off the front of it. One of the biggest there, aside from Gumeong himself was actually a woman- Laukur. She wore a very long necklace double- wrapped around her thick throat that was covered with teeth- one stolen from each of the people she has defeated in battle. Her arms and legs both almost entirely covered with fur- tapering off just before the fur reached her torso. The ends of her limbs gigantic paws just like Gumeong- for Laukur is a bear woman. Her abs so hardened and pronounced her torso looked like a brick wall if not for her large breasts. Her neck was long and thick, and her face and head shaped like a bears with no resemblance to a human other than she has hair on her head- and neither her head nor neck has fur. Her torso was also barren of fur- except a tiny nub of a tail that was almost unnoticeable. Laukur's hair was pure polar white like the fur she did have, and formed into a thick braid on either side of her head- weighed in place by a glass bauble on the end. Her lips and nose were black and her stare was cold. Her name apparently meant 'onion' in a distant tongue. Sal could tell he would have to work hard to prove himself among these hardened warriors to earn his keep.

Ame did not hear from Sal in almost a week, making him a bit worried. He decided to instead visit Athair to check on him with his free time. The vibrancy of the colour in his feathers had faded quite a bit. Athair was quite old now and usually walked with a cane when moving about his large church home. He was still in good spirits though, and insisted he was fine taking care of himself. He still did a fine job preaching the ways of Luaithre to the people who came to the ancient church- and because of these trying times, there were more people than ever.

Athair thanked Ame as he handed him his tea. "You have come to see if I need help, but it is you who seem troubled my son."

Ame sighed. "It is nothing really. I mean, everyone has problems these days. I have enough money to survive on and a house over my head- I think by today's standards, I am doing well for myself."

Athair nodded sadly, taking a sip from his tea. "Mmm, yes. You and Sal were born into a dark era unfortunately, but you have both done well to press on in spite of it."

"Well, it helps that we were born into it, I think. I mean, we don't even know what it was like before the decline, so we don't really know what we are missing. I haven't seen Sal in a week... not sure where he has been. Work might be hectic."

"You and Sal have always been good for one another. Two friends is the coming together of two people who benefit from or enjoy each other's company, but you two... it seems more like you are two sides of the same coin. Rather than finding one another it is like you were always meant to be together from the start." He paused a moment, looking at the tea leaves through the subtle ripples in the tea. "It makes an old man like me wonder though... does Sal know how important he is to you?"

"Of course... he knows we are the best of friends. Actions speak louder than words, it is clear to all that we would have each other's back to the end of days."

"But, have you told him? As you say- actions indeed do speak a greater volume than words ever could. Feeble human languages can only skim the surface of the emotional depths of one's heart. He likely does know- but that does not diminish the act of actually telling him. The words are not so important. It is still nice to actually hear it said." Athair looked out the tower window. "You do not want to wait till it is too late. Some things get harder to do with time, and regrets are a hard weight to shake off."

"Do you regret anything, Athair?"

He gave a half minded nod. "When I was young I abandoned my parents. They were avians and followed closely the culture of the crowndom of ash. They were afraid the culture would be lost to time if they did not help keep it alive. I was angry at the racism toward us in the streets. Living in the crowndom that ended that of our ancestors, you can imagine the things people said about where we had come from, and I was tired of that being directed toward me, even though I had never set foot on its land. I told my parents I did not care about that culture- that that culture was the reason all our ancestors were murdered in that ancient war. I moved out to find a job and a house on my own, but in doing so I completely cut contact with my parents. When I had sufficiently calmed and took up my priest robes I sought them out so that we could all forgive one another..."

There was an awkwardly long pause before Ame spoke up. "They did not wish to forgive you?"

"They were dead. One had died of illness and the other of old age by the time I sought them out again. I had completely cut contact with them so word of their death had never reached me. They both died without a son." After several more long moments he turned back to Ame and motioned out the window to the inner church court. "Oh, have you met the new priestess? She just started a day ago. She has been most helpful around the church even though she has much to learn still of the teachings of Luaithre."

Ame had not seen her- Athair had been the only one at the church for so long he did not think to look for anyone else. Ame headed down after he was done his visit with Athair and headed to the inner court. Because the church had once been used as a bastion in times of war, it was deliberately very difficult to find your way to the courtyard to detour invaders. There was a simple but beautiful garden there, and the structure of the church was shaped like a three sided square against the cliff- so the court faced out over the ocean and Isola in the distance. He approached her from behind as she had her back turned to it all, gently caressing the long stem roses that bordered the tall narrow stained glass windows. She had very long and beautiful vibrant red hair that was wavy halfway down and then huge curls toward the bottom. When he called to her they both gasped as she turned to face him.

"Ame?!"

"Naomh?!"

He had not recognized her at all from behind- it looked like she was wearing a huge gown that was white on top and red and gold below, but only the white was actual clothing! Naomh's hair had been shorter and also raven colored, not red. The bridge of her nose had expanded as well now- now it was a gentle outward arch from the middle of her forehead to the tip of her nose, and the keratin plates of her pseudo beak had expanded to encompass the new mass- the plates were now pale yellow instead of black. Her claws were now long proper talons, but her skin still soft and human. Her wings were not only bright red now instead of black, they were also almost twice the size as before. She could close them around her hips to form a skirt before- now it was more like the skirt of a gown; expanding out some ways and also plenty long enough to trail on the ground behind her. Each of her larger feathers had a gold tip, looking like golden embroidery at a distance. Though still avian- her change of life style caused her species to abruptly change. Ame explained to her that he had been raised in this church- it was still like a second home to him even now.

"I did not know you were religious. If I knew you wanted to join the church I could have put in a good word for you, haha. I suppose you did not need it though. Athair is a good judge of character, he is a kind teacher."

"I did not take your for a religious type either, and you were raised here." They both sat on the bench at the center of the court.

"I am not. I don't want to say I don't believe in Luaithre, but I also do not entirely believe in him either. The way I figure- whether he is real or not does not affect how I live my life, so there was never a reason to look into it further." Ame shrugged. "He is, if he is. I am still going to try to live my best life one way or the other."

Naomh nodded, looking a bit distant in thought. She looked at her hands as they fidgeted. "Want to know a secret?"

Ame chuckled. "People keep asking me that. Sure, hit me."

Naomh smiled softly. "It is because you are such an approachable guy. I... I am not religious either. At all. I don't believe in this God or any."

Ame furrowed his brows trying to understand. "But... why would you devote yourself to being a priestess then?"

"The other night, a bit ago when I asked you out? I... I'm sorry, I was just using you as an out. I thought if I had a boyfriend or a husband the men would stop... trying to touch me."

Now his brow hardened with a bit of anger. "What? Someone tried to... assault you at work?"

"They did more than try. It has been happening for years. Mingyun is quick to act, and she almost poisoned one of them to death once on accident and made a lot of trouble for herself in the process. Even customers that seem decent enough... once they get drinking, they get grabby." She sighed deeply. "If I change the way I dress I make no tips, if I dress to make tips I get fondled. At least if I made money I could stay alive, so I had to just put up with it." Naomh started crying into her hands.

Ame quickly pat her shoulder. "Hey, shhh. It is okay now; no one is ever going to touch you again without your permission."

"I know. That is why I became a priestess." She wiped her eyes and tried to compose herself again. "Priestesses cannot marry outside the church. If anyone tried to assault someone within the church walls, they would evoke the wrath of the entire holy order. And, even if I don't believe... if this God can give others hope that IS real, in these darkest days, then it has my full support."

Naomh got up slowly and wandered closer and closer to the edge of the tall cliff overlooking the sea. Standing dangerously close to its edge her hair became weightless and twirled around behind her, and her gigantic wings slowly opened. Her scarlet feathers fluttered violently in the strong sea breeze as her wings spread to feel more of it against her- the air catching on the feathers caused the wings to billow out even more. Each wing was easily bigger than the size of the entire rest of her body- her heart must be huge to be able to circulate blood that far out. Now that her wings divided from it, he could see her tail was much bigger now too. Formerly very short and black it was now almost like Athair's tail in length and the shape of the feathers, but it was more narrow and could not be fully fanned out. Like her wings, they were mostly scarlet red with gold ring patterns where there would be rainbow patterns on Athair. The old Naomh had died, so the condor form was gone. Now, she is a Phoenix.

**Fourth Chapter; Mixed Feelings**

Eventually Sal and Ame were able to find each other again and Sal was able to tell him about the Clay Pigeons. Ame was a bit concerned about the job, and they got in a bit of a fight about it, but ultimately Sal remained convinced it was his path. The problem with mercenaries though is that they take whatever job that pays- regardless of how grim or dangerous the task. The other concern Ame had was that the Clay Pigeons have a base in Isola... Sal could get called off to serve Isola- potentially against Pianeta. He could end up fighting alongside his father in spite of all his efforts. Sal was surprised when Ame told him about Naomh. He thought the two of them were dating now, which was the catalyst for him joining the mercenaries in the first place. His resolve bristled against his doubts though- it was a good job and he was good at it. The only problem he seen is he could be called off at any time, so he might not be around all the time to hang out with Ame when they wanted to. He would never be especially far either though. Ame thought about what Athair told him about telling Sal directly about his feelings, but could not bring himself to do it. Sal seemed fine on his own. He even mentioned Laukur- a woman he worked with, and sounded like he had a deal of respect for the female warrior. Ame did not want to complicate things for his friend, or ruin their friendship entirely by revealing he liked Sal in a different way. Ame would just swallow his feelings for now- he would be fine as long as he knew Sal would be fine too.

At the Rex base, Sal was pit against Laukur. He held his training sword tightly, tense and ready to evade, waiting for her to make the first move.

Laukur just huffed. "I will try not to step on you."

Normally she fought with giant bronze cestus, but since she did not want to smash his body into paste- she just wrapped her knuckles in cloth for training. Seeing he was waiting for her to make the first move, she did. Laukur rushed forward and swung low and forward- since he was so much shorter than her. Sal evaded and spun to strike the underside of her arm. Gumeong's primary head had fallen asleep in boredom watching the training, but his serpent head called out 'point' when Sal struck her. Laukur jumped toward Sal this time and he had to roll to the side to be able to evade in time. She hit the ground so hard he bounced a half inch into the air! He barely got his balance before her fist came right at him! Sal twirled out of the way, but while he was off balance she took the chance and stomped forward to crush him under her huge paw! He barely managed to move away in time, falling on his ass but also swung to the side hard, and struck the side of her shin! The serpent called another point.

Sal got up, trying to catch his breath. "You're going easy on me."

Laukur shrugged. "You won't learn anything if I end the fight immediately."

Once he got his breath they both charged at each other again. Laukur stopped short and swept her leg out, forcing Sal to stop. Before he got his balance from the sudden stop her fist slammed into his chest at full force and tossed him five feet through the air and crashed into a straw target dummy. Sal gasped for breath, since she crushed it all out of his lungs.

The serpent chuckled. "Two points- a draw."

Sal slowly got up holding his chest. "H-how is that worth two?"

"She killed you so hard you came back to life and then died again."

Gumeong chuckled from his main head as he woke back up. "Don't feel too bad, lad. Women are just genetically superior as warriors. Men have to work harder to keep up."

Sal cocked an eyebrow, not sure if he was joking. "Isn't it the other way around?"

Gumeong nodded. "Oh sure, most think it is. But I have seen plenty of combat, so take it from me. Women have a naturally higher endurance of physical pain because they are built for child birth- which generally doesn't feel great in the process. They have a naturally higher awareness of emotions, allowing them to read and predict their opponent. And women are naturally more flexible and agile then men. Sure, men can get more muscular quickly, but what the hell good is muscle if your opponent is too fast or smart for you to hit in the first place?"

Afterward he was cooling down in the barracks locker-room getting ready to wash the sweat off, his chest was still beat red in the shape of Laukur's fist. It would probably be a dull purple by tomorrow. Hestur was already pulling clothes off nearby.

"Hey... didn't see you in the training yard. At least if you were my sparring partner I wouldn't have to crane my neck up so far to look you in the face."

He looked at Sal a moment, then slowly approached. "You would not want me as a training partner." Hestur picked up the wooden training sword beside Sal. The veins in his arm bulged tremendously a moment, his grip shook slightly and then the wooden sword broke in half. He snapped it in one hand.

"OOooohkay, right. Yup. I can see that now."

"I do not train technique because I am too slow to learn. I am not skilled, I am not smart, I am just power. You point me in a direction- and I destroy everything that stands in my way."

Sal nodded toward his hand as he put down the remains of the sword. There was a brand scarred into his flesh on the back of his left hand. "What is that mark?"

Hastur looked at the back of his hand as if he had forgotten it was there. "I was originally from Basilius, kidnapped when I was a child. Sold as a slave."

"Oh fuck... I'm sorry. That must have been horrible... how long did it take for the authorities to find you?"

Hestur shrugged. "Maybe they are still looking. Maybe they never looked. No one got me out of the slave trade. I just became very useful and strong enough from doing what I was told." He clenched the hand into a fist. "Till one day I was just strong enough to grab him by the face and pop his fucking skull like an overripe grape."

Sal tried not to look, but it was hard not to as Hestur continued to take his clothes off. The fine light grey horse hide made his muscle curvature shimmer even when it was not wet, and is fine enough that you can still see every bump and curve from the veins webbing his muscles. He had several scars on his lower gut, bent around the contour of his abdominal muscles- that was likely the reach of most of his opponents. He was half work horse, so he had a genetic advantage when it came to body building. His mane and tail were dark charcoal grey while his body was pale grey- though he had some speckles on his hide that were a shade of grey in between the two on his shoulders, butt, and thighs. His tail had a cloth tightly bound at the base normally to hold it off his body- he took that off as well before the shower to finally let his tail rest. The end was cut short and straight across so the hair on his tail looked like the end of a paintbrush. His spike lined shoes were left on even in the shower- since horse shoes are hammered in place by nails. Sal had to try his hardest not to look as Hestur took his pants off and turned to get into the showers. In doing so, he looked a bit odd, because he was concentrating so hard not to look, that he had completely paused taking his own stuff off and was just sitting there frozen in place a moment. Both men and women used the same shower area, but assigned different times to use it.

Sal actually considered a moment just waiting till Hestur was done but that would be WAY too obvious and weird. He reluctantly headed into the shower. It was a large area with several shower heads- it needed to be huge to host people who were potentially half of a very large animal- like a polar bear like Laukur. The slow drying sweat made Sal feel sticky and gross, so the mildly hot water was very refreshing. He closed his eyes and let it hit his face directly, spreading through his hair and down his body. As he reached for the soap though, Sal caught a glimpse of black out of the corner of his eye and unfortunately seen the front curve of Hestur's matte black nuts- almost as big as honey melons. Sal started to freeze up again, trying his best to keep his eyes forward. Between the stallion's legs was a plush black sheath that looked big enough to comfortably stand a wine bottle up inside! Sal closed his eyes a moment as he rinsed soap off his face, when he opened them again and glanced back toward Hestur he almost shit himself- Hestur was standing just a couple of inches away, facing him. Hestur had seen the half-chub in Sal's own crotch as the smaller man kept glancing over.

"What it is you see that is so captivating?" The steam in the showers was shoved away a moment as two gusts of hot breath blasted from his large nostrils.

"I-it's nothing! I just... I never used a group shower like this before."

"You like other men?"

"I like what I like- it's nothing you need to worry about."

Hestur took another step forward. "Mmm. Suck it, and I won't tell anyone."

Sal's brow hardened immediately. "Fuck you."

Hestur's face immediately softened in a small smile. "Hah ha." He pat Sal on the shoulder. "You will do just fine here with us, little one." Hestur went to walk out of the shower, pausing only a moment more. "By the way, your forehead is bleeding."

Sal raised his face and cupped his hand below- looking down at his palm he seen red in the water. He felt his forehead and sure enough there was a bone spur that had grown in the middle and lanced the skin painlessly. He was starting to grow a horn! Hestur's advances seemed to have been fake- he was just testing Sal. Even Sal did not understand where that had come from. Hestur was clearly someone you did not want to get on the bad side of- but he completely forgot how easily the stallion could kill him with his bare hands and snapped at him. Rather than get angry, the aggression seemed to be exactly what Hestur wanted to see. Had it actually made him mad though, Sal could have a broken neck right now. Sal got aggressive at just the thought of someone else coming onto him, but why? He had no one else, he DID very much like what he seen. Even for some time after, he had difficulty getting the vision out of his head of those giant ebon genitals, wobbling around below the horse. He had strong feelings for Ame, but Ame was his friend, never his boyfriend- he liked girls like Naomh, right? So why didn't he want to get with someone like Hestur?

The next day, Gumeong gathered several of them, including Laukur and Sal to give orders. "You have a day to prepare. We need to send more men to Isola. In addition to the rise of crime in Isola and the rumours that it is people here in Pianeta, they have been having their arms full dealing with people trying to flee Pianeta. That will be our job- might not even be any fighting involved. Just border patrol, simple enough, but be ready to do a lot of running."

Sal slowly raised his hand. "If they are not violent, why is Isola so determined to keep them out?"

Laukur shrugged. "They offer nothing and seek to take the island nation's resources, because their own homes are depleted. Crown Gimsteinn likely views them as parasites."

Gumeong nodded. "Aye. Laukur has the right of it. This crowndom is dying so they try to get into Isola, but Isola does not want homeless people filling their streets and leeching off their populace. You have family in Isola, no? They had a high rank, and a good bit of money to their names, so Isola had no gripes taking them in. They had something to offer. A crowndom is nothing without its people, so if these people drove their crowndom into the ground why would Isola want to take them in, only to do the same to their home? Isola will take people into its borders- but not just any layabout, and certainly not stowaways."

Laukur spoke up before Gumeong could leave. "Will you be joining us, sir?"

He paused without turning back and just huffed. "Easy jobs aren't my thing. I will check up on things in a few days, remind myself what it is like taking a piss in a toilet that is actually clean, then come back with you all."

The next day of course, Sal spent with Ame. Because Sal has been staying at the Clay Pigeons barracks his family home has gone unused for some time now, so they were back to hanging out in Ame's apartment. He was a bit embarrassed and had to scramble to clean as much as he could. Never having guests over, his apartment was sort of a mess. The last time he cleaned up was over a week before, when he had to let the chimney sweep in to do his job. The first thing Ame commented on was of course Sal's new horn- which had already grown considerably bigger. It stuck almost nine inches out of the top center of his head- almost at his hairline, and it arched lazily back. It was black so it also stood out in that sense too. It had very subtle ridges on its surface, but was still early in growth so it was anyone's guess how big it would become.

"So it sounds like you really enjoy the company you keep with them."

Sal nodded, one foot up on the coffee table. "Yea. Gumeong looks like an absolute monster but he has... I don't know, a dignified air about him? He is very to the point, always does exactly what he needs to get the job done, nothing more or less. Doesn't get his feelings involved with his work. I guess he is like the father I always wished I had."

"Well, better late than never." They both chuckled.

There was a long pause before Sal sighed and spoke up again. "I am... going to be gone for a while. Not sure how long, but a while. Easy work, but it is some distance from here."

"Hmm. Well, you have to do what you have to, I suppose. Stay safe out there, alright?"

"I am almost more worried about leaving you here. There is even talk of Basilius planning to claim independence from the rest of Pianeta. I know it has always been bad, but at some point the crowndom will reach its limit and collapse... it can't keep this up forever."

Ame looked at his friend, the changes he was getting from his new friends. Ame missed having moments like these alone with just Sal all the time. It was good he was getting other friends though, and that he had steady work, even if it took him away from Ame more often. Maybe just knowing Sal was alright would be enough. Seeing the distant look in Sal's eyes, trying to comprehend their future made him want so badly to put his arms around him and hug him close. But that wasn't a thing guy friends did normally- he did not want to weird him out. It would not be fair for Ame to complicate things with his own feelings, knowing they could not be returned anyway. On the other end of the same couch, Sal wore a small smile for his closest friend. Thanks to the barracks showers, Sal could not help but wonder what Ame was packing between his legs. Ame really did look like an angel- statuesque physique and large soft wings folded up behind him. His eyes a soft powder blue like the heavens on a clear sky afternoon. How he was still single was absolutely mind boggling to Sal. Ame was fucking gorgeous and so kind hearted. Maybe he would get with Naomh yet though- Ame told him of her transformation with obvious awe of her beauty. Ame was also obviously concerned for her- saying there was still a deep, repressed sadness in her. Two men looking at each other with a hidden love, on either end of the very same couch and neither knew the depths of the other's affection.

**Fifth Chapter; More Than We Can Afford**

The next day Sal nervously took the early boat out to Isola. He made sure to stick close to the other mercenaries, and when they started to wander around the ship more- he stuck with Laukur. Since she is so huge she makes a good landmark. On the other side they did not wander far- they would be looking for stowaways so they will be patrolling the storage hangers near the docks looking for people who do not belong as the cargo from the boats is unloaded. Though far from Rex, Basilius is also on the coast and trades with Isola, so there could be stowaways from either city, as both were part of the Pianeta crowndom. The air here on Isola was so different. There was not the smell of smoke, dust, or rotting wood. There was smells of fresh fruit being shipped off the island to be traded, the smell of incense from the nearby street markets, the smell of salty sea air. He found himself taking deep breaths just to taste the air as often as possible. The air was refreshingly cool while the sun was radiant and warm. So this was what it was like, to be in a crowndom that was not cursed to oblivion. Just being here felt like a weight was lifted off him- like the air itself in Pianeta was oppressive. Instantly, Sal wanted to stay here permanently. The Clay Pigeons had a base right here in Isola so he would not even have to get a new job. Moving here would be as easy as asking Gumeong for a transfer. But thinking of leaving Ame behind in that decaying land hurt his heart. He could not abandon his friend. Maybe he could talk Ame into coming to Isola. He tried before and failed but... he had to try again.

Sal froze up as he heard an all too familiar voice behind him. "Well, look what the tides washed ashore."

Sal turned to face his father. "What are you doing here, old man?"

The polished silver armor of Isola contrasted the black and gold tiger stripes of Skepna's canine and feline mixed form.

"Doing my job, boy. I almost did not recognise your face- I am more accustomed to looking at your turned back."

"You are the one who turned his back on his home. You swore alliance to Regulus and then spit in his face."

Skepna growled, flexing the claws on his hand threateningly. "And yet here you are, serving no cause but yourself, standing on the same side of the fence as me- and you DARE lecture me?!"

Sal took a step forward to be face to face with his father, rather than shy away from the threat. "I never swore alliance to anyone. I was never, and will never be one of your underlings. You never wanted children- you wanted obedient fighters you could shape freely."

Skepna backed off and straightened his posture as the huge shadow of Laukur approached. She place a huge paw on Sal's shoulder. "Is there a problem here, Sal?"

"No, I was just informing this guard what our stance is."

Skepna glanced nervously up at Laukur then scoffed at his son as he turned to leave them. "We currently have the same employers, so you best not slack off, or I will be the first to point it out."

After work Sal was quick to ask the mercenaries stationed permanently here in Isola where the closest bar was. There was several, but Sal deliberately took a small sort of hidden one. Built in the basement of another place, it still had street access with stone stairs leading down to its door. Half the walls were cobblestone and the other half wood- it was a cozy place with a good reputation. It rarely got new customers because of its secluded location, so seeing someone who was not a regular; the half rhino bartender immediately welcomed him in. Sal ordered an entire bottle rather than a mug, and the woman two empty stools over on the corner of the counter chuckled at him.

"What? I have problems to drown."

"Don't we all." Her voice was dry and tired.

He could tell she was getting on in age- her once black hair was looking charcoal from the increasing number of greys showing up in it. Her head was shaped like a dog- a black lab specifically. She had no fur on it though, just long straight greying black hair like a human. Her tail was huge and fluffy though, definitely not a dog. Sal was not sure what creature that tail belonged to- it was like a fox tail but huge and solid black. Both her hands and feet were dog paws- the skin turned black at her wrists and ankles but again she had no actual fur on them. Because she did not have proper human hands, she needed to hold her huge pint glass between both paws. She had deep worry lines in her forehead and creases under her eyes from too many days spent crying.

Sal got to talking with the old dog, learning her name is Sagesse. She had a very low opinion of herself, but he could tell she had not cried actual tears in a long time. She was a strong and wise woman.

She chuckled weakly as Sal's problems of the day. "Y'know, most people ask you when you are going to settle down and start a family like it is some wonderful thing everyone needs to experience..." She took a long drink. "But in reality, almost every family out there is broken or fucked up. It would take a miracle to be perfectly compatible with your whole family. Fucking miracle."

"Hmmm, certainly seems that way. Why do you figure that is?"

"You only get one. You do not choose your family, you get only one. There are billions of people out there that you will not be compatible with, but you can choose your friends. It doesn't matter how bad the odds are when you can roll the dice as many times as you need."

He watched the ice in his drink shift around on its own. "Don't get along with your family either, I take it?"

She huffed, then was silent a moment before taking another big drink and speaking up. "My father was an abusive prick. Finally got caught in the act beating my mother and was arrested. Died in the pit of a dungeon- never seen the light of day again. My mom couldn't handle raising me on her own and was a nervous wreck. I tried to get a job to help her out as soon as possible, but I couldn't land any real decent work so I couldn't get enough money for medicine for her when she fell ill and she died, leaving me alone." Sal was about to apologise but she spoke up again before he spoke. "And then I made the mistake of trying to start my own family. Look at me. Do I look like someone who has their shit together enough to have a family?"

He smiled weakly. "Aside from the drink in your hand, you do sound like you know what is what."

"Well... knowledge and ability are not the same thing. I was still young when I fell in love- put my heart out there before it knew better. He was a handsome and brave person, kind and bold. A fine man, sure enough." She bowed her head over her mug. "He did not even know I was pregnant when he went off to fight some stupid battle as knight of Regulus. He was killed in the line of duty."

"You had to raise a child on your own, like your mother."

Sagesse rolled her head back and forth on the rim of her mug. "No. I could not do that to a child. I wouldn't create another broken family. I gave the baby over to a church and ran. Ran as far and fast as I could to here on Isola. Ocean on every side- as far from anything as I could get. I have just been... existing since then. No real goals, just living my days, alone like I deserve. I can't ruin a relationship if I don't form any."

Sal's heart squeezed painfully tight as he stared at her beautiful powder blue eyes and his entire body filled with dread realization. He had unintentionally found Ame's birth mother.

Ame had not told Sal he did not have work when last they spoke. Dry spells of work were common, but he thought he would find another job soon enough so he did not want to worry Sal. The problem was though, he did not find another job. He had not paid his apartment rent for some time and his landlord was running out of patience. When Ame was venting to Mingyun like usual in her bar though, he was overheard by a lion man. A gruff looking fellow- his beard and sideburns connected to his bushy black hair to form a mane like crown Regulus himself. He had two short scars on his face and many more on his hairy but not furry arms. His hands were perfectly human in shape, but his feet were huge lion paws. His tasseled lion's tail had several jeweled bands on it. Before he knew it, he was standing on the edge of the roof of one of Rex's few remaining rich households, waiting for the others.

The lion man was Orgueil, a formerly wealthy man himself. Everyone thought he had fallen on dark times like everyone else- but in truth he had lost most of his fortune through investment. He had been handing his money out to the less fortunate. Orgueil is secretly a lackey of Gracieux, a legendary thief of Rex. No one knew what their leader actually looked like, but Ame did now. Orgueil had convinced Ame to join their band, with the goal of bringing down the remaining rich estates to help the rest of the people survive a bit longer in these darkest days. Ame himself could not survive much longer without money, and as willing as is to work for it- he can't find work! It was steal or starve at this point.

Along with them was also Beau, a half horse man with luxuriously long tail and mane. He had a snout but only half the length of a normal horse. His skin was cream coloured on most of his body, except his mane and tail were pure white- though he had no fur. Gracieux himself turned out to be a bit of a pretty boy. His very narrow, dainty hooves clicked softly on the floors as he dashed back out of the mansion with a bag of loot tossed over his shoulders. He had a triangular tuft of a tail and very long, narrow limbs. The cool black end of his wide nose connected to his black lips. He had deer ears and a giant rack of antlers crowning his head.

Gracieux reached the top window a bit breathless. "Coast clear, lad?"

Ame nodded, glancing down to Orgueil on the ground to be sure. "It is."

Beau slowly approached from behind Gracieux. "Too much of Regulus' muscle is busy trying to keep order in the streets to be hunting down thieves. Besides- we will run out of things to steal soon enough."

Gracieux sighed. "Aye, a time that is sadly approaching. All we can do is force the resources be spread out. We can't magic up new resources."

Gracieux explained their job to Ame by comparing it to a magician. People pay a magician for his art, which is effectively sleight of hand. Well, thieving is also an art of sleight of hand. Except instead of people paying them for it- the thief takes the liberty of taking his own tip. A magician makes a rabbit vanish- thieves make coin vanish. Saves on rabbits. Gracieux grew up on the streets, but was much more bold and fleet footed than others around him and would often steal food for himself and others to help his fellow homeless survive. No one knew that he was working with other homeless people, which is partly where his legendary reputation came from. Part of the reason he is uncatchable and seems to be in more places than one at a time is because he is aided by many. That is where aids like Orgueil became valuable. He is wealthy and an upper class citizen. If a homeless man shows up at a shop with a bag of gold, someone is going to figure it out. But if Orgueil shows up with a bag of gold no one bats an eyelash. Ame hated the idea of stealing, but something needed to be done, and the fact that even a few people in Rex would still have a hidden wealth was disgusting. What was the point of riches if the entire land you lived in died? Where are you going to spend the money when all the shops are closed and their owners are dead in the street?

This night though, their crime was put to a stop. As they were slipping through the laneways, they came up to a pile of crates and junk built up blocking the lane. As soon as they stopped and went to turn around to take another route, they saw several Regulators coming down another lane. It was a trap! The problem with there being so few places left to rob is that it makes it a hell of a lot easier for the Regulators to predict where they will be, before they actually go there. Beau tossed his share to Ame knowing he and Gracieux were the fastest. Orgueil and Beau waved the Regulators over and then bolted in two different directions trying to divert attention. Gracieux motioned for Ame to follow him and they ran to out to the main road so they wouldn't encounter any more blockades and then they divided as well. Ame beat his wings as he ran, allowing him to run extremely fast, he bolted toward the lower city. The church was to his right up on the huge cliff overlooking the ocean- the other half of the city was on a steep slope down to the water below. Ame thought if he could get to the port they might assume he tried to stow away on a ship cargo, while he actually just runs back the other way. Getting caught completely off guard he just seen a flash of white charging full blast and slammed into him and crushed him against the wall.

Ame woke up slowly, his body aching a bit. As he looked around confused he saw that he was in a carriage with Orgueil and Beau. They all had their hands bound together at the wrists by a single rope. They had all been caught, except Gracieux- maintaining his reputation as a legendary thief. Watching over the three of them in the back of the carriage was the Crowned Shield, Chevalier. He had been rammed into a wall by the white bull and knocked out in one hit!

"Been a while, Chevalier."

The bull looked at Ame a moment and snorted. "Have we met?"

"The two guys in the crowndom of ash, almost got murdered."

He nodded slowly. "Ah, that was some time ago. You have some way of showing gratitude."

"Sorry... we don't have a lot of options to survive. I would work if I could. We ran out of options."

Chevalier snorted again. "It won't matter soon."

"Huh?"

Beau glanced at Ame. "He isn't taking us to prison; he is taking us to the royal palace. Crown Regulus apparently has a proposition for us. Or, a proposition for Gracieux, but since he isn't here to ask directly..."

Since they were tied together they were forced to walk close to one another in a line as Chevalier held the end of the rope and dragged them along. Even the royal palace was pretty bad off. It still looked luxurious, but it was tarnished and ill kept. Shrubs and hedges were partially overgrown, pathways were not swept. Only lanterns and braziers in the main halls were actually lit, and sound echoed through the halls as staff was kept to a minimal, so most of the palace was empty. They came to the red carpet leading through the audience chamber to Regulus' throne at the top of a tall narrow staircase. Regulus himself was quite aged now, looking rather frail and weakened himself. His once great mane was thinning and the golden color fading.

Chevalier remained immediately behind the three as they were lined up to be presented to the Crown. Regulus wasted no time in presenting his deal to them. He did not care about those the theives have robbed- he was not keen to their hoarding resources either, his guards were forced to respond to the crime for the sake of maintaining some level of law and order. Regulus wanted to use the legendary thief and his band for the good of the crowndom now, though. He has loosely plotted a heist to Isola! Regulus wanted them to steal a cargo ship of fruit from the island nation!

Orgueil huffed at the fellow lion. "So a suicide mission? Those cargo ships are damn big; stealing one would be quite the stunt."

Regulus shrugged. "But Gracieux is a legendary thief, if anyone at all can do it, it would be him."

Beau furrowed his brow. "But... how do you expect to get away with it? I mean if we take a cargo ship from them and steer it back to Rex, they will immediately know someone from Rex stole it, even if they do not know specifically who. There is already plenty of rumours going around that people from Pianeta are trying to steal from Isola- if they catch it actually happening we will unintionally validate all the previous rumours. Gimsteinn will blow his top."

Ame's heart tightened in worry. Beau was right; they were teetering on the edge of a war Pianeta could not possibly win. It has been dangerously close for some time, but Ame never imagined he would be the one with his finger on the trigger that ends it for the crowndom. Their band of merry men could very easily kill the crowndom once and for all with their actions, and it was the crown himself ordering it.

Chevalier spoke up. "You will not bring it here. There will be a transport caravan from Basilius and Rex sent out at the same time- they will converge at a halfway point where you bring the ship. Its cargo will be loaded into the two caravans and split between the two cities. It will look like they are just making a trade between the two cities. At that mid-point is the pathway toward the distant kingdom of Haven."

Beau sighed. "People from Haven stealing it doesn't even make sense- the fruit would rot before it made it that far..."

Majhul shrugged as he walked up beside the crown. "We don't have many options to work with- much like you. Now, will you help your crowndom, or should be drop you off in the prison instead?"

None of them had even noticed Majhul being there till now, even though he had been in the room the entire time. The exalt did not really have much of a presence most of the time since he was never physically present. He only ever appeared as a clay avatar of a man- the actual exalt was somewhere else entirely, projecting his consciousness here.

Ame grumbled, unable to hold back his feelings entirely anymore. "So we will just feed off Isola, till it joins us in ruin? That is assuming they do not go to war against us- and I assure you that is a fight we cannot win. This is both extremely risky, and extremely temporary of a solution even if it does work."

Regulus thumped a fist down on the arm of his throne. "Isola is the whole reason we are in this situation!"

Seeing the confusion on their faces, Regulus motioned to Majhul who waved a hand through the air and mana started to weave itself densely enough to be seen as he created a very large runic array.

"This was deciphered from the leylines, having been projected from Isola. It is an extremely powerful curse. So powerful in fact that no one person could ever hope to cast it- it would kill you the moment you tried. A spell of this strength would require near a hundred people. Which means either Gimsteinn knew it was happening and did nothing, or he arranged for it to happen personally. It was not some cruel twist of fate that just-so-happened to bring ruinous conditions to our crowndom alone, while a crowndom right beside us magically has abundance suddenly. This was orchestrated. Isola has been devouring the life force from us for nearly thirty years!"

Regulus nodded sadly. "But it is also as you say- we cannot win against them in a war. If we seek vengeance directly they will snuff us out. This is the only option we have."

Armed with this new information, they were let go free for now. They would have to wait for Gracieux to approach one of them and the master thief would decide their course of action. Ame could hardly believe it. All this suffering and darkness was man-made? How could anyone be so cruel hearted? Ame wished he could talk to Sal, but he was away on work still. Sal had not told him where he had gone to work- Ame did not know that Sal was working for Isola currently.

**Sixth Chapter; At Odds**

As the days went by, Sal started to dread having to return to Rex eventually. He kept playing conversations with Ame out in his head, trying to convince him to come to Isola over and over again in his thoughts. His horn had stopped growing now and was huge! Only about as thick as a toilet paper roll, it arched over his head about two inches off of it, ending in the same place at the back of his head as it grew from the front. The ridges became steeper and developed a thorny edge to them as well. Because of how the black horn curved he could not pierce anything with it, but it protected the top of his head, and would still hurt to get hit with if he rammed someone. He was visiting the bar regularly after work as well to speak with Sagesse who was there every night. She was rarely actually drunk, she usually ordered one or two drinks and sipped them for hours off on her own quietly. Though she would not admit it, she seemed to enjoy his company too; unable to figure out why he took such interest in her. In spite of what she said of herself, she was a very wise woman who had faced plenty of hardship and came out alive. Knowing secretly that she was Ame's mother made Sal fascinated with her.

When the day finally came for him to return to Rex he waited nervously at the port while Gumeong arrived and rounded up the other mercenaries to escort back home. They were a bit scattered because they were still on duty for a while, but Gumeong wanted everyone accounted for so they could bail the moment their contract ended. Sal had would have to try to restrain himself when he found Ame again, he felt like he might explode with all he needs to talk about. He has spent this long away from Ame before, but not in a different city- being so far away made him antsy. Sal smiled wide as he seen Sagesse approaching him as he waited around at the port.

"Hey, what are you doing here?!"

She shrugged, looking around like she was felt out of place. "I don't know, you said you were shipping out today. Been nice having someone to talk to, I guess."

They heard a bit of a commotion and looked over to see one of the huge cargo ships unlocking from the loading cranes.

Sal called over to Laukur about twenty feet further down, closer to the ship. "What is going on?"

She looked at her sundial pendant. "That ship isn't supposed to head out for another hour and a half. The paperwork is still being processed for it."

Sagesse huffed. "Some idiot lost the schedule probably. I mean, someone wouldn't try to steal the entire ship, would they?"

They looked up in time to see someone jump from the one of the monitor towers and open black wings to glide over to the departing ship. "Ame?!"

Laukur looked at him quickly. "You know who that is?"

"He is from Rex!"

Even further over Gumeong threw off his cloak and smiled. "Prey!"

They would have to get on and stop the ship before it was able to completely leave the harbour. The only boats capable of catching up with it were also too small to stop it. Gumeong lead his men down the piers and jumped on using the cranes that slightly overhung the ship. The cargo ships were very large and long so they could not exactly speed off from a dead stop- it needed to back up out of the piers and then turn before they could crank the speed. A few of the Regulators from Isola managed to get onboard as well, so Ame was in trouble- they were outnumbered by quite a bit.

Beau was part race horse, so he used his speed to slam mercenaries out of the way and crush them against huge cargo crates. His smashing spree ended quickly enough when Laukur caught up with him. She yanked him right off his hooves and slammed him in the deck hard enough to knock him out and almost snap his neck with whiplash. There were few able to stand toe to toe with the polar bear woman. Orgueil tried to lead them around and lose them in the full cargo, but had a dirk to defend himself with if he needed. And he needed it rather quickly. He managed to dupe the mercenaries, but was cornered by the crowned shield of Isola- Skjoldur. His front covered in flat smooth plates giving him the appearance of having a large gut, and giving him a hunch back were the extremely thick dark green plates of his back. He is half man, half tortoise. Skjoldur carried no blade, but had a shield in either hand. Orgueil made the mistake of hesitating because of his lack of conventional weapons. Skjoldur swung across barely missing Orgueil's face and yanking his mane to the side from the force of the air pressure created from its movement. Skjoldur lunged forward slamming the other shield into his chest and slamming him up against a crate. Orgueil was winded but managed to dash to the side just as the other shield crashed through the crate as Skjoldur slammed it rim-first. Orgueil stabbed him in the gut quickly with the dirk, but only managed to leave a thin, shallow scratch. The tortoise carapace was impervious. Skjoldur knocked him back, smacking him across the face with a shield and then caught him dead-on with the rim of the other, knocking him unconscious.

"... the best offense, is a good defense."

Sal and Gumeong burst into the control room to find Ame and Gracieux! Gumeong wasted no time in lunging at the legendary thief! Gracieux was very agile on his feet, evading easily and bowing his head to swing it through the air, scratching Gumeong's right shoulder! Gumeong caught him off guard, slamming his left wyvern wing into his gut to wind him and then bit his left leg with his serpent tail to prevent him from evading any more attacks.

Sal drew a sword but made no move to actually attack Ame. "What the hell are you doing here, trying to start a war?!"

"What am I doing here?! What are YOU doing here? I thought you were doing mercenary work in Pianeta, but here you are siding with the enemy!"

"The Clay Pigeons have a base here in Isola too! I am not siding with anyone- mercenaries are neutral to all sides."

"You might as well side with them! How much money do you think the Pianeta crowndom still has?? Mercenaries always work for the highest bidder, and Pianeta has no bid! Isola has all the money!"

"At least I am not starting wars!"

"Rex is out of resources! There is no other way to feed the people. You know the legends of Gracieux, he is a noble thief. He would not be doing this unless there was a good reason. We knew this attempt was insane, but it is all we had."

"It isn't all YOU had! I told you to join me! I told you to join me in the mercenaries, its good money and steady work. Don't you... want to be with me? You would rather try to steal a boat in a suicide mission than just follow me...?"

Gracieux put his hands out straight as Gumeong's lesser arms crossed their scythe blades over his neck. "I surrender!"

Gumeong sighed and backed off. "Seriously? What if I let you get a head start before I attack again?"

"Uhm, as tempting as that sounds, I would rather be arrested than flayed alive."

"Hrm, that is no fun."

Ame looked at him and and motioned his hands to show he was unarmed. "Looks like Isola wins again..."

Skjoldur walked into the room dragging the unconscious Orgueil. "As it should. You vermin will face grave charges for this, especially since you are not even from Isola. If you had waited an hour and a half, we likely would not have caught you, but luck does not side with filth."

Gracieux furrowed his brow, glancing at Ame. "We got the schedule wrong? This operation was already risky, how could Majhul have been so careless as to give us the wrong schedule times?"

Skjoldur looked at him a bit confused. "What does our Exalt have to do with this?"

Now Ame was confused too. "YOUR exalt? Majhul is the name of Regulus' advisor."

Sal looked at him. "What? Majhul is also the name of Gimsteinn's advisor..."

Gracieux explained to them what had happened, how they were against the idea originally, but the crown himself hired them under threat of imprisonment. He then explained the runic array Majhul let them see that put the curse on Pianeta and Skjoldur just shook his head through the entire explanation.

Skjoldur chuckled. "What a pathetic attempt to confuse. You will have plenty of time to weave lies in your prison cells. Gimsteinn will have to pass judgement on this case himself- this assault has more implications than just this boat."

Sal shook his head. "Wait." He looked into Ame's blue eyes. "Is it true?"

Ame nodded, and Sal then looked to Gumeong who nodded to Skjoldur. "It's the truth then, as far as we know it."

Skjoldur grumbled. "Then his bares investigation."

Gracieux laughed. "Really? Take his word just like that?"

"Gumeong is a well-known mercenary leader. Mercenaries are neutral parties- he is with neither Isola nor Pianeta. He has no reason to want to lie in the first place, so if he says it is true, it is true."

The chaos of the afternoon went unreported for some time as the boat was brought back into port. The mercenaries brought Orgueil and Beau to a nearby Regulator post for temporary holding. Gracieux and Ame however were taken to the palace, but not till the middle of the following day. Skjoldur walked into the royal audience chamber first. Behind him were Gracieux being restrained by Gumeong and Ame being held by Sal- but neither in actual bonds. Sagesse walked along beside them all and stopped stood beside Skjoldur.

Gimsteinn was adorned in a ridiculous number of gemstones on golden armour. He is part dragon, so he feels most at home in lavish fortune. His horns clicked on the back of his throne as he moved his head back to look down resentfully at the thieves who tried to steal and entire ship from his port. Majhul stood beside the throne, quiet and unassuming, just as he had in Rex. Again, not an actual person but an avatar made of clay.

Gimsteinn motioned a hand toward Sagesse. "And this is?"

Skjoldur bowed slightly. "A local woman, when we learned she had some knowledge of magical workings we borrowed her ability to read runes. One of the mercenaries that made the arrest recommended her."

Gimsteinn nodded, but also cocked an eyebrow. "I was unaware there was a magical aspect to this attempted heist. It was not mentioned in the report that was given to me."

"I had to investigate another case as it seemed to be closely related, your majesty." Skjoldur motioned to Sagesse to speak.

She hefted a large magic book up and opened it, waving a hand over a page to project a runic array. "Crown Regulus was made to believe this runic array was cast on his kingdom to bring it to ruin. It was projected using leylines leading from Isola."

Gimsteinn laughed. "Preposterous! How on earth would a spell like that even function? The energy required to cast it would kill whoever cast it, and even their entire soul would not be nearly enough to even partially activate it."

"True, it would require almost a hundred people to activate without killing everyone involved. The ritual would also be quite large and take some time to do- it would be impossible something of that nature would fail to be in your notice. But... the thing is, I had an acquaintance of mine who is better than I at magic check, and she found traces of the runic array still imprinted in the leylines."

Skjoldur nodded, looking back to his crown. "The curse was indeed cast, and directed from Isola toward Pianeta. We have no idea how on Earth it could have been cast, but it was cast." His brow hardened as he turned to Majhul. "So, why don't you explain it to us?"

Majhul laughed a bit nervously. "Why do you think I would know anything about this? I have been with you the entire time. If you don't know, neither do I."

Gumeong spoke up. "Oh really? You were here, the entire time? And here I thought I was dedicated to my work. Even I go home every now and then."

Majhul sighed. "Well I went home when I was done work obviously, but only to sleep. You can search my damn home if you want for any traces of this spell of yours- I assure you, you will find nothing."

Gracieux grinned and stepped forward. "Oh, we did."

"...what?"

"Well, see, I happen to be really good at getting into places I am not supposed to. So I sort of already had a look around your house. And you are correct- we found absolutely nothing. Almost as if no one lived there at all. Weird how everything had a layer of dust on it, as if it had not been used in a long time. So... where exactly do you go, when you are off duty?"

Gimsteinn slowly turned to look at the exalt. "Majhul... when you first came to me offering your expertise in magistry you claimed that you claimed that your form was horribly unsightly, so you only went out using that avatar of yours. In my arrogance I was simply glad to not have to deal with an ugly servant, and impressed with your clear ability. There is a simple way to dissolve these accusations, Majhul. I know you would rather not, but... show us your true form."

Majhul grumbled. "I have already seen the future... this isn't supposed to happen..."

**Final Chapter; Forever**

Back in Rex Jingshen finished dragging her daughter up the tall cliff and they joined a surprised Naomh in the court yard overlooking the ocean. Both snake women were out of breath. The wind was extremely strong off the water. There had been dark grey clouds covering the entire sky evenly, but they started to part over the waters between the two kingdoms.

Naomh went to their aid. "What is wrong? Are you two ok? The weather seems to be getting chaotic, we should get you two indoors."

Jingshen nodded out to the ocean. "I can finally see the future with a bit more clairity. We came here because it is above the waves."

"Waves...?"

They looked out as the waters started to ripple violently, the waves getting higher and higher. They were rippling out from the same point where the sky started to clear in a giant circular opening- as if being rejected by a powerful force.

Mingyun opened her crest to tighten her chains so they didn't whip around in the wind. "My mother is the one who predicted the downfall of the crowndom."

Jingshen nodded sadly. "The man of one hundred faces. Spirits linger in the crowndom of ash, sometimes offering wishes to any who would visit their old graves. A man once wished to know the future as our nomadic clans do. What the spirit did was give him access to his past and future incarnations- iterations of himself further back or forward in the cycle of reincarnation. One hundred incarnations to be exact."

Naomh shivered at the thought. "One hundred people linked psychically across time? What on earth animal would that even look like?"

"... an apocalypse."

Majhul's body rose out of the ocean between the two kingdoms- above where he scratched the runic array into the ocean floor. The gargantuan dragon head reached into the sky on its extremely long neck. The base of his neck transitioned to a broad torso which had six giant insect-like arms with an unusual number of joints and all ending in small, thin scissor-like pincers. Ten gigantically large and long tails slithered through the ocean waters under it like the arms of an octopus, stirring the waters into giant waves that pummeled the shores. On his back he spread giant, long but narrow dragon wings. The wings had fully translucent membranes making them almost resemble insect?s wings.

Majhul's head smashed through the royal palace in Isola and smashed Gumeong, Gracieux, and Sal right out of the building- tossing them out over the city along with shattered remains of the chambers! Majhul's clay form crumbled with him no longer projecting into it. The giant horned dragon head grit its teeth at the remaining people in the throne room, its long narrow beard trailing on the floor under it. Majhul raised the dragon head to reveal the beard was actually the hair on his head! A human head was partially fused to the bottom of the dragon head's chin! His human torso was fused at the back to the underside of the jaw, but its arms were not fused and free to do what they wished. The human form trailed off at the hip into the dragon throat.

Gimsteinn stood up, but could not think of where to run and froze up in fear. "W-what the hell ARE you?!"

Majhul spoke with a hundred voices- not all of them male, and not all of them were even human. "A savior. I have seen the past and the future through the eyes of those who came before me and would be born from me. In two hundred years, Isola and Pianeta formed into a single glorious empire- you would annihilate my homeland in war just Pianeta reduced a crowndom to ashes already. And so, I pit you against Pianeta. You should be grateful- I chose Isola as the survivor. The more Pianeta rot, the greater Isola became. If the unified empire is never formed, you will not have the power and arrogance to wage that war."

"Y-you are insane!!"

Majhul looked over the others. "But someone else has distorted fate itself. I have seen the future... this isn't supposed to have happened."

As Majhul turned the dragon head back down Skjoldur told the others to run and grabbed up his twin shields again to buy them as much as time as he could. Ame ran till his lungs burned, desperately trying to find Sal. Sagesse ended up finding Sal first, having seen roughly where he was flung in the attack. He had fallen through the roof of a building and landed on a couch, demolishing it but breaking his fall. He clung to his sword, for what little good it would do for him against a giant draconic monster. They both flinched at the sound of it roaring a pillar of pale green fire onto the palace as it lurched forward, dragging itself forward on its many spindly arms. Majhul could fly, but his targets were all scrambling on the ground- taking flight would make them almost impossible to spot. His eyes locked onto Sagesse.

Sal's heart frozen. "Fuck, RUN! He blames you for exposing him!"

Sagesse spun on her heels and bolted, and Majhul lunged forward, his many giant tails lashing around smashing in the sides of buildings he passed. Sal stood his ground. He knew this was an impossible fight, but there was absolutely no way in fucking hell he could let him hurt a hair on Sagesse's head. Sal lowered his head, aiming his horn forward more. Majhul barely even paused, smashing Sal out of the way with one of his many arms. Even winded against the side of a building though, Sal grabbed the arm and slammed his sword down on it, cutting into its hard chitin only slightly- but enough to visibly hurt Majhul. He turned his head to the tiny man and snarled. Sagesse immediately spun around when she knew Sal was in trouble. She did not know magic well enough to cast attack spells, and especially not on the fly. Sagesse picked up a rock at tried to hit Majhul in the eye with it! She missed, but it was enough to call his attention back. She was the one he was after anyway.

Sal was dropped to the street gasping to get his breath back. "N-no, you have to run."

Sagesse shook her head and stood her ground as the monster approached. "You are much younger than I. You still have a future. No one will even remember me, get out of here."

Sal's voice could barely be heard as he had no breath to speak with yet. "N-no... please you have to live."

Majhul raised a narrow, pointed pincer to jam it through Sagesse but Laukur grabbed it, yanking it down to the street and wrapping both arms around it! She was actually strong enough to lock it in place- Majhur could not use that arm. He opened the pincer on another arm and grabbed at Laukur with its serrated inner edges trying to force her to let go, but at the same time used another arm to stab at Sagesse again. She tried to get out of the way but there was too much rubble in the streets at this point and she stumbled. Majhul lanced her gut with the sharp pincer at the same moment Gumeong landed in the side of his head at full speed- having been using his wings to fly to him as quickly as possible. Gumeong seen the spray of blood from Sagesse as Majhul ripped his arm back out, and the shocked tears in Sal's eyes.

Gumeong's eyes immediately started to glow red as he looked up at Majhul. "I am going to kill you so hard I will end all your incarnations with you."

Majhul stabbed at him, Gumeong grabbed the limb with his serpent head and yanked it back, then wound up and punched it hard enough with his bear claw to actually crack the chitin painfully! He slammed his wings down, firing his body up quickly at Majhul's head! He moved his head up and back as fast as he could but Gumeong was faster- ramming his bear claws into the gut of his human body and raked four deep trenches up his body! Majhul smashed him down with his dragon head and blasted him into the street before he could even fall.

On the ground, Sal ran to Sagesse, holding a hand to the hole through her lower torso, trying to stop the bleeding, but the hole went straight through- there was no use. The number of healing potions that would be required to heal a wound of that size would poison her blood and kill her anyway.

"Please... please hang on. You have to live..."

Sagesse chuckled weakly, her vision already so blurry she could barely see. "You are a kind young man. I am glad I met you... but please do not waste your tears... on me. You find a wa...*cough*... way to survive all this. Run, live. I hope that baby I left behind grew up... to be a fine young man... like you..."

Sal could feel her body become heavy as the life left it, right there in his arms. Gumeong commanded Laukur to grab Sal and get him out of there.

Sal tried to struggle free from her grip. "What are you doing, I need to kill that son of a bitch!!"

Laukur shook her head. "Not like this. Gather yourself; you will only be throwing away your life in your current state of mind."

Majhul turned at him and sneered. "Oh? Kill me?"

Gumeong flew up, grabbed him and yanked his head back around with his snake tail and punched him across his human face. "Was that a request? You take your eyes off me for a fucking second, I guarantee it will be the last time you see anything."

Ame finally found Sal, sitting in the middle of a ruined road with Laukur by him. Ame ran up but slowed his pace when he seen the grim expression on their faces.

"Sal. Are you okay?"

Sal slowly got up. "Ame." He stepped up to Ame and suddenly hugged him, tightly, catching him off guard. "I'm... sorry."

Ame hugged him back. "For what?"

They broke off and Sal smiled weakly. "For a lot of things. That monster almost turned us against each other. I am sort of still glad I joined the mercenaries but... I think I originally just joined them to... run away from my own feelings."

"Majhul played with a lot of people's feelings, you don't have to apologise."

Sal clenched his fists lightly. "Ame... if I knew something you probably should know... but all it could do is bring you pain...?"

Ame crossed his arms. "I would hope you would keep it to yourself."

Sal smiled weakly and nodded after a silent pause. "Then for once in my life, I will keep my mouth shut."

Sal picked his sword up off the ground and turned to face Majhul fighting Gumeong and the city Regulators in the distance.

Ame quickly spoke up. "Woah, wait, what are you doing?! You can't fight that thing!"

He walked away slowly, but did not stop. "I can fight it about as well as any of them can. Well, not Gumeong, but he can't win this solo, as much as he wants to." Laukur stood up to join him in returning to the fight.

"Let me join you then, damnit."

Sal waved it off. "You don't even have a weapon, dummy."

"But... I... love you."

Sal froze in place immediately. His heart started hammering in his chest as he slowly turned to face Ame. "What...?"

Ame sighed, closing his eyes for a long moment. "I never wanted to say anything because I did not want to ruin what we have. I didn't want you to be weirded out. For the longest time I tried to find another answer in myself, that maybe I was mistaken but... I love you. I always have. Sorry."

Without a word Sal ran to Ame and hugged, and then kissed him deeply. Laukur looked away to give them their moment. As she looked at the sky her brow furrowed a bit. The giant clearing in the clouds... it wasn't centered over Majhul. It was over Ame and Sal! That was why Majhul could not see the future- Ame and Sal had changed fate so that they could never be divided for any reason. Like with Majhul, Ame's wish affected both past and future, he had unintentionally created a new branch in the timeline, one that Majhul has no power in.

Ame and Sal put their foreheads together and remained like that for some time. "Remember that time we went to the crowndom of ash?"

Sal chuckled. "How could I forget?"

"That is when I first knew. That night I think I was visited by a ghost... I don't know if it was a dream of what. It asked me what I wished for, and I wished that we would never be apart."

There was a long pause before Sal spoke up again. "I guess it worked then."

Majhul grabbed both of Gumeong's wings to hold him still and slammed his giant dragon head into him- head-butting him into the ground to stun him again. He then turned to the Regulators cutting small gouges in him from behind and started lashing his tails around violently, crushing half of them and throwing the rest through the air like he was tossing a salad. He glanced up as he seen Ame gliding overhead on his black angel wings. He took a deep breath to incinerate him but Laukur picked up and threw Sal at Majhul while he was distracted. He got high enough to jam his sword into the base of the monster's throat, causing him to scream in rage. He grabbed Sal and yanked him out with one of his many arms, cutting him a bit with the serrated edge of the inside of the pincer. He was going to impale him with another arm, but Ame folded his wings in and used his elevation to drop onto the dragon head and punch it directly in the eyeball! Majhul's mouth and nose spilled flames in pure hate as he shook his head violently to knock Ame away. Sal turned the sword around in his hand and jammed it right through the arm holding, forcing it to let him go.

Majhul seen Gumeong getting back up and Laukur approaching at a full charge. He spun his ten tails around and started slamming down onto the street and the buildings to collapse the buildings in on top of them as well as try and crush them! Sal jammed his sword in as far as he could to one of the huge tails to try and save his mercenary friends. Majhul sneered at the persistent man. He slammed Sal down onto the ground with an open pincer and forced his weight down on him to start crushing him. Sal tried to turn the sword and impale the arm, but Majhul learned his lesson this time. He grabbed Sal's arm and started twisting- shredding the flesh with the serrated edge, forcing him to drop the sword. Ame rushed as fast as he could to save his lover, using his wings to run extremely fast, grabbing the sword off the ground and slamming it into the arm trying to cut off Sal's. Majhul still had plenty of arms to work with however. Gracieux ran up his back, distracting Majhul a moment. He squirmed around trying to knock the stag off, but could not! Gracieux was unarmed and unable to attack properly- but he could be very annoying. Ame grabbed either side of the pincer trying to crush Sal and yanked up on either side, opening it farther than it was supposed to be able to go. Majhul yelled out in pain as Ame cracked the chitin and tore the pincer right off! Majhul slammed Ame against a building with one arm and then thrust another at him to impale him! Sal quickly got in the way, and the pincer lanced his side leaving a large deep gouge in his side, but not killing him. Not immediately anyway. Ame was still gasping for breath as he grabbed Sal and tried to get them out of Majhul's attack range to try and recover. Majhul has a very large attack range however. Gumeong burst from the rubble before Majhul could attack them. Gracieux stomped down on the dragon head with his dainty little hoof, making him flinch a second, preventing him from evading Gumeong's bear claws as he swiped across the dragon face, leaving four more streaks of red.

Ame helped Sal move, easing him down. The wound was extremely bad. There was a half circle cut out of the side of his gut! His sword arm was bleeding very heavily as well, and the flesh had been cut almost to the bone. He motioned to Ame with his good hand.

"Give me the sword a second."

Ame handed it over, not sure what Sal was planning. "We need to get you to a medic, fast. You can't fight with that wound. Please, please don't try."

Sal chuckled. "I know that. I... I am not getting to a medic either, though." Ame looked ever the beautiful angel of a man with sympathy welling in those powder blue eyes of his. "My body is going cold and numb already, I am losing blood too fast."

Majhul seen them standing still and took the opening to attack, but stopped suddenly as he seen Sal instead turn the sword around in his hand, and plunged it into his own chest. Ame screamed his lover's name as tears streamed down his face. Sal smiled weakly even as the life left his emerald green eyes and the horned fox man fell onto his side, dead. He would not allow Majhul to take him. Majhul smiled at the broken Ame and the dead Sal, rearing up already turning to give his attention to more threatening attackers.

Ame shuffled over to Sal's dead body and pulled the sword back out, washing some of the blood from its edge with his tears. "She said... she said that barring a power greater than her own, we would be together... forever." He took a few shuffling steps toward Majhul and slowly raised the sword to point at him. "I guess... death...." The stone of the road shattered below him from the sheer force of will. "-IS NOT MORE POWERFUL!!" He opened his eyes- one emerald green and one power blue.

Sal's horn erupted from the center of his head as his ears grew longer and pointed, standing up as the ears of a black fox! Its long black hair turned gold and curled a bit at the tips, and Ame's once thin tail exploded in bushy fur! It spoke with both Sal and Ame's voice at the same time. "We are Soulbound!"

Majhul immediately turned around as he felt the extreme gravity of an explosively powerful aura. Laukur took the opening and got behind him to the apex of all ten tails and jammed the claws of both hands in and started yanking apart- looking to literally tear him a new one. Gracieux slid down, holding onto the hair of Majhul's human head.

"Get off you annoying twat!"

"Nah, I think I will hang around. I like the view from here."

The second Majhul was distracted, Gumeong flew up so hard and fast he slammed his one bear fist into Majhul's torso so hard he cracked three ribs! Soul slammed his wings down to fire himself up into the air- unlike Ame he was able to fully fly. He flew forward and slammed the sword down so hard into the dragon head he cleaved both top and bottom jaw at the front! It roared at him breathing fire, but Soul closed his wings a moment and fell below the fire before it could hit him. Gracieux quickly let go to drop to the ground and get out of their way. Majhul closed his ten tails on Laukur and started to twist them together to crush her to death behind him, but Soul landed on his lower back and jammed his sword between two tails, and then ran up his back without pulling the sword out- raking a long trench into his flesh up his entire back! Laukur quickly escaped the tail while they twitched and thrashed from the pain. Majhul twist around to lance him with a pincer but Soul caught it out of the air with his free hand. Soul smiled as he tightened his grip, the pincer chitin started to creak, crack, and then popped as blood burst out and he crushed the pincer with his bare hand.

"The reason you cannot see into the future in this timeline?" He tossed the wounded arm to the side and flew straight forward, slashing Majhul across his human throat! "In this timeline, you have no future."

Majhul thrashed around, rearing up holding his throat as blood flowed freely from the large gouge straight across it. Soul had not simply slit it open- the gouge went a fourth of the way through the neck. He tried to speak, but only wet breathless gurgles came out as his body heaved a few times desperately trying to cling to the life quickly draining from it as the road was absolutely painted in his blood. His body started to crack and crumble as if it were made of compressed dust. His body was a result of several incarnations of its soul coming together- but Soul changed the future, so the incarnations he had summoned from the future no longer existed as he knew and their power evaporated. The timeline he called his power from has been rewritten. The clouds completely cleared from the sky. The air in Rex suddenly felt so much lighter, and clear. The stench of decay vanished. As the sunlight kissed the earth, tiny sprouts started to peek from the long dormant soil. The curse has been broken.

Gimsteinn did everything in his power to aid Regulus. Isola sent all the resources it could spare to help Pianeta get back onto its feet in the wake of its terrible curse. Skjoldur died to give them all time to escape Majhul's initial attack, so to commemorate his sacrifice a large marble statue now stood of him at the front of the royal court- posed with his twin shields. Gumeong decided to start training Laukur to be his successor as the leader of the Clay Pigeons. He was still viewed as the leader by basically everyone, but officially Laukur was the woman in charge. Gracieux was recruited by Gumeong, having been impressed by his agility and skill, the noble thief still did plenty of morally just robbery on the side, but also worked as a mercenary as his day job. Naomh eventually succeeded Athair when he passed on as the owner of the ancient church. She was able to spread hope to the people and offer shelter from the troubles of the outside world she never had the luxury of herself in the past.

Sagesse's grave was on its own small hill in the graveyard, not on Isola, but in Rex. A small tree stood beside it, sheltering the headstone. Soul laid a huge bouquet of flowers at the base of the stone.

"You will never be forgotten."

Regulus and Gimsteinn themselves stood just behind Soul, waiting their turn to rest flowers at the grave. As the woman who helped reveal Majhul's identity she was written into the history books as a hero of both crowndoms.

And Soul himself? Well, Soul started to travel around and take in more of the world at large. Helping each other recover from a nearly shared destruction, Isola and Pianeta were closer with one another than ever. Apparently there is a potential war in 200 years at the hands of their joined forces, so Soul still had some future to change. But that is the thing about the future- it's yours to shape.

The End