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"Calvantes!"

My entourage of guards perked up as a distant voice called my name. In an instant I saw excitement, hope, and a lingering sense that everything would be okay painted in the movements of all the three jackals that surrounded me. To my surprise, I found my own body mirroring the excitement of my guards as we collected ourselves from the sand and ventured out into a hot, dry sun.

"Calvantes! My Prince!"

A lone figure waved at us from atop a sand dune far in the distance, nothing but a black silhouette against the blue sky and golden sand. His voice was a mere whisper in the wind. The four of us, tired yet relieved, waved back as we ventured to meet him in the sand.

Out here in the desert we all dressed the same. Loose tunics and sleeveless cloaks adorned our bodies, complementing the white-and-gold headcloths that protected our faces from the sun and sand. A stranger wouldn't have been able to tell us apart - we were no strangers to one another.

He knew who I was the moment he saw me and greeted me accordingly, even as the others surrounded him with blessings and attention. He fell to one knee and bowed his head. His voice quivered from exhaustion.

"My prince, Calvantes."

"Stand, Fernando! Save your strength." The others formed a flank around us - we were alone in this vast desert, yet their training did not allow them to truly rest. Fernando stood, his stance weak, and untied the cloth from around his face so that I could have a better look at him. His pale yellow fur contrasted beautifully against a black nose and golden eyes. At glance I could tell that he was tired, but Fernando stood with pride and beamed me a smile warmer than the sun overhead. "Blessing of the Sand, my friend."

"Blessing of the Sand to you, Calvantes." We locked arms with one another, my hands on his shoulders and his on mine, and as the cloth fell from around my face I pulled Fernando close into an embrace.

Three times I kissed him - three blessings for my friend. Once on each side of his snout, that he may always find shelter from the heat and food for his stomach. Once on his lips, where the kiss lingered for seconds long, that he may always find fresh water to quench his thirst.

I could hear his tail brush against his cloak. The youthful joy in his eyes brought me some much-needed comfort.

"It's good to see you again," I said to him before taking a step back and raising my arms. The others - friends, every last one of them - followed soon after me. Alonso, Domingo, and Lorenzo. All three kissed Fernando in greeting and welcomed him back with open arms. "Come, let's get out of this heat. You look tired, my friend. Somebody get him some water!"

Our shelter, if it could even be called that, was nothing but a set of shredded and burnt rags hastily tied together and propped up by sticks embedded deep into the sand. The roof over our heads sat so low that neither one of us could stand underneath, much less sit with our backs straight. My spine ached its complaints as I crawled on my hands and knees back into the shade. The others followed behind me.

It was the best that we could do in such a short amount of time.

The five of us sat in a half-circle. So cramped were we that we were practically pressed up against one another: shoulder to shoulder, hand with hand. It didn't matter to me - I was happy. The five of us were together again. If only Pedrito were here as well...

"What news?" Domingo questioned, the oldest of us all and also the most impatient. His fur was a little darker than the rest ours. Mature. He was also the tallest of the group.

"Good news!" Fernando replied. He was met with a chorus of cheers and well-wishes. From the look on his face I could tell that his ears had fallen over his head beneath his headcloth. There was more. "And, ah, also some bad news."

"The good ones first! Right?" Lorenzo looked around to the rest of us. His eyes lingered on me for a moment. "We need it, I think."

Now Alonso took his turn, speaking softly as he often did. His voice, despite our time out here in the desert, was melodic. "You found shelter?"

"Shelter," Fernando replied with a nod of his head, "yes. I found shelter."

"How far?" Domingo asked. He'd leaned in a little closer. His nose almost grazed Fernando's cheek. I felt some compulsion to get between them but saw no malice in Domingo's eyes, only curiosity.

"A day's hike from here. North." The direction in which we'd watched him leave two days ago.

"A city!" Lorenzo exclaimed, ever the optimist.

I shook my head and patted the poor jackal's back. "We're as far from a city as we're ever going to get. Fernando, did find a smaller settlement. A village?"

Now Fernando was the one to shake his head. I could feel the shame wash over him, over us, like a tidal wave of sand. We all sat in silence and waited for him to speak.

His voice quivered - his throat was parched. I urged Fernando to drink from my waterskin. Careful sips brought him some relief.

"Well?" Domingo's impatience was starting to affect me. I wanted to know.

Fernando sighed in defeat and simply muttered, "A cave."

"A cave?" Domingo questioned, incredulous, confused. "Did you say a cave?"

"I found a rocky outcrop in that direction." Fernando pointed outside our shelter. "Between the dunes. The cave was large; the rock was stable. I slept there night to gather my energy for the journey back here. I'm sure that if I had continued I would have found a settlement, but..."

"... But we need shelter, proper shelter, for the prince." Everyone hummed in agreement to Domingo's words. Some even smacked their fists against their thighs in solidarity. Only I remained silent but it seemed that a decision had already been made. "Calvantes - thoughts?"

My four guards, my four friends, now openly stared at me, waiting for a decision. The answer was obvious, of course, even if it felt a little discouraging. How much longer would we be roaming the desert for?

"We travel in the evening." Another round of cheers. My men were happy. "We take what we can. We travel slow. If we stay here we will not survive the week. Either the desert will take our lives or bandits..." No more needed to be said.

Alonso's voice once again sang to my ears. He was sad. "Pedrito..."

The quiet melancholy that fell over us could neither be avoided or ignored.

"For now," I said to them, "we rest."

In those long hours between I kept mostly to myself while the others spoke with one another. I only caught glimpses of their idle conversations: simple gossip of what lay ahead, ruminations on events past, and gentle commentary aimed at keeping each other's spirits up. Sometimes they laughed, other times I caught the stifled sniff of a man who'd spent a minute too long thinking of his past life.

I did not partake, for I admittedly found myself lost in recent memory: my friends' pledge of their allegiance to me, our exodus from my city, and the fight for survival that we have had to endure every day for the past three weeks. Hunted like prey by the ones we used to call friends, neighbours, sisters, and brothers.

"I want to go home," one of them said as the sun began to set below the dunes. I did not know who it was, for his voice was rough and tired.

I wanted to go home too.

"Home is north," I said to every one of them, "away from this damned desert."

To the green plains of the Welkish Empire, or the mountains of Gallaecia beyond.

"Gather your things. It's time for us to go."

We left our shelter behind - soon enough it would be ripped apart by the winds of the Sommerian Desert, along with any evidence of our brief stay in these warm sands. The five of us began our slow journey north.

At the top of the dune I stopped, glanced back, and looked for the spot where we buried Pedrito. The marker we laid had been swallowed by the sands just as it had done to his body. One with desert. "Blessing of the Sand to you, my dear friend."

***

It was the moon and stars that guided us now. Salera and her daughters. Their silver light carved a path through the desert and brought peace to our aching hearts.

Every so often I would stop and stare out over the distant horizon. I wanted to find something, anything, that could be the promise of good fortune. A distant fire, a caravan of lanterns, or even a faint voice carried miles by the wind.

Nothing. Just the vast Sommerian Desert as far as the eye could see. Our last hope lay in Fernando's find. It couldn't be much farther now.

"Tired yet, my price?" Domingo came up behind me, his cloak buffeted by a gust of wind. Behind him was Lorenzo, forming up the rear of our march. I could barely see Domingo's eyes from the narrow slits of his headcloth, but I could very well feel his smile.

I wanted to say, yes. The muscles of my legs ached and my lungs burned. With every step I could feel my feet sinking further and further into the sand. It made trudging through these lands nearly impossible. He felt the same, I knew it, but he would never voice his complaint to me, and neither would I to him.

He nodded, held a little tighter to a spear he'd been using for support, and trudged on without me. I followed close behind safe in the knowledge that Lorenzo was watching our backs.

Up ahead of our march Fernando retraced his steps. Twice now he'd said to me that we were making good progress. He was confident with his sense of direction. My trust in the young jackal was infallible.

A trust well earned, as we all soon found out. Fernando's shrill voice cried out from the front of the march, excited and relieved.

"I see it! We're close now!"

The rest of my friends celebrated as they threw their heads back and cried out to the night sky. It was... moving. Infectious. Liberating. I joined in the chorus soon after they did, craning my head up to Salera and her daughters so that they could hear our triumph. Our yips and howls danced with the sand dunes and sailed out with the wind.

Lorenzo and I were the last to approach. The others had already gone into the cave and began to explore what it had to offer - it wasn't much.

"Home," Alonso remarked. The dry bitterness of his voice did not go unnoticed. Domingo stalked up to the jackal and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

"Shelter from the sun and wind, and at least we won't be sleeping on sand. My fur can't take it any more."

"Your fur is fine," Alonso replied with a smile as he tugged down the headcloth from over his snout, "but if you would like some grooming...?"

"The old man needs it!" Lorenzo called out as the two of us finally entered the cave. Fernando was overcome with a fit of laughter. Alonso, unable to help himself, turned away and hid his grin with the back of his hand. Only I stood up for poor Domingo - always the brunt of the age jokes.

"Let the man rest!" I exclaimed as I took a seat at the cave wall, dropping my belongings along with the rest. "His knees aren't the same as they used to be." It wasn't much of a defense.

Domingo hunched over, dramatically swung an arm to the lower end of his spine, and played up his old man's voice to an uncanny degree of accuracy. "When you turn my age you'll see what it's like to be disrespected by the youth! Bastards."

The laughter died down. As we all settled, Fernando began to look a little apologetic.

"Calvantes, my Prince. Forgive me for not finding you more suitable accommodations."

I shook my head - Domingo spoke before I could say anything.

"More space than before, and we can make it comfortable enough. The cold, however..."

"We can keep each other warm," I finally said. I could feel their smiles on me now.

"Then it's settled!" Lorenzo stood, his long arms drawn wide over his head as a yawn escaped his lips. "A room fit for a prince! I take first watch."

"No!" In a moment stood, my hand finding itself around the pole of a spear. "You rest. All of you. I'll take first watch."

Domingo walked up to me with concern etched in his eyes. "Calvantes, my Prince. Are you sure?"

"Rest, friend." I pressed my head against his, held his arm in mine, and put a kiss to his lips that instantly quieted his thoughts. "Let me watch over you tonight."

***

I muttered a simple prayer to Salera and her daughters.

"Watch over my friends, for they have uprooted their lives for me. Protect them, for each one of them is more than a simple grain of sand. Keep them fed, for not one of them deserves to go hungry. Keep them sheltered from the sun, that they may find comfort even on the hottest day. Provide for them with your waters, that they may live long and bountiful lives. Hold Pedrito in your tender embrace and deliver him to your daughters, that he may rest in peace for the rest of our days."

Salera's answer was a gentle gust of wind and a warm hand on my shoulder.

"You must not worry over us," Domingo said to me. "More than enough problems for you to deal with already."

"You are not problems to me," I answered back earnestly. "You are my friends."

"And you ours. But you are also our prince, and us your protectors."

I couldn't help but sigh. Domingo sat beside me and joined in watching the moon. Salera was beautiful tonight.

"I am prince of nothing."

"Nonsense!"

"You know it is true."

"You've lost yourself in your thoughts again, Calvantes, and have neglected the aid of your trusted advisor."

"Would that be you?" I laughed and reached out to pat him on the shoulder. Domingo laughed back. "Your advice will sooner send me to my grave, old man."

"Well I will give it to you regardless of whether you want it or not. Deal?"

"I have no choice."

"Then listen to this: you may not think of yourself as a prince any longer, but the rest of us do. No House to lord over? A city to govern? We are your House. We are your city. Alonso, Fernando, Lorenzo, myself, and poor Pedrito too. Ask any one of us and we would all say the same."

What had I ever done to deserve them?

"You gave us purpose," Domingo continued as if having read my thoughts, "and showed us kindness, and demonstrated friendship. You gave me a second chance - do you not believe that you deserve one too?"

"Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't."

"Well I say that you do." Domingo stood. He took my hand in his and urged me to stand as well. "You're shivering, my prince. It's cold. Come with me - let me warm you up."

How could I refuse him? How could I refuse any of them?

First I felt his arms around me. Domingo's taller nature lent itself well to wrapping me up in his embrace. He was warm, as if his fur were still being graced by the light of the sun. So warm that in a moment's notice I was drawn to him, my hands to his sides and my lips to his.

That first kiss was gentle and kind. Our noses pressed against one another as I simply relished the moment at its most pure. Then I felt his hands exploring as a tongue began to lick at my lips, a tongue that I willingly accepted into my maw as one of his hands groped at my ass and the other began to explore up the inside of my tunic.

I felt at peace in this simple moment as his hands and tongue drew out a louder moan than I'd intended. As if in response, Domingo began to kiss me with feverish aggression, that larger tongue of his pressing deeper into the back of my mouth and battering down my own muscle as his hands groped and scratched a little more roughly. His fingers found my nipples, sensitive yet small, and with a single pinch I found myself panting and gasping and very nearly swallowing his tongue.

Domingo did not relent, his distraction so overwhelming that I hardly even felt a second set of hands come down around the small of my back, nor a third set slowly begin to undo my clothes. It was only when he'd stopped kissing me, when my pants were down around my ankles, and when a single finger touched the very tip of my erect cock, that I'd finally come to realize that I was surrounded.

The four of them flanked me at every side, each one of them in various states of disrobing themselves but none of them as naked and exposed as I was. I couldn't help the perverse chill that traveled down my spine as I felt their eyes devour me. All four of them touched me as if only I belonged to them.

"Kneel, Prince," Domingo commanded, and like an obedient servant I did as I was told. I knelt between the four of them, finding the cold hard rock less than a bother as they presented themselves to me one after the other.

Domingo's cock was already fully out of its sheath. The tip of his tapered head bubbled over with dribbling precum that demanded my full attention. Out of instinct I drew my head close, took a deep breath of his musk, and then savoured his excretions as I lapped up his precum straight from the source with long, meaningful strokes of my tongue.

"Salera above!" Domingo exclaimed through gritted teeth as his hands found themselves around the back of my head. "Your tongue is perfect, my prince."

"So are his hands," another voice said -- Alonso, who'd been standing off to my right. He too was naked, his cock erect and twitching angrily with every beat of his heart. He didn't demand the attention of my tongue but rather preferred the soft touch of my hands. He guided my hand to his groin -- I teased the edge of his sweaty sheath with the tip of my claw and felt him shiver -- and forced me to cradle his warm and fuzzy balls that almost seemed to twitch as I gave them a gentle tug and squeeze.

Domingo did not allow me to stop. The more I licked the more precum he seemed to produce, a little thicker and saltier than it was before. The more I fondled Alonso's balls the harder the jackal's erection throbbed and the more of his excitement he spilled across my arm.

At once I was in a trance, surrounded by my friends who used my body as if I belonged personally to each one of them. To my left was Fernando -- he grabbed my arm and coaxed me into holding on the girth of his length, already slick with a layer of his own saliva. The up-and-down stroke of my fingers across his fat shaft nearly matched the pace set by my head as Domingo impatiently forced the tip of his cock into my mouth, then made me swallow him whole.

Lorenzo stood behind me, his body hot against my back. Whenever I pulled back from Domingo I could feel the tip of Lorenzo's head brush against my fur, teasing out a little moan from the sensitive jackal. From the sounds alone I knew that he was masturbating himself. His heavy panting begged for me to turn around and swallow him whole, but Domingo's hands and throbbing member commandeered my body like a toy.

I heard a grunt to my left; Fernando's face scrunched up in pleasure as he grabbed my hand and forced it to stroke him harder, faster, until all sense of rhythm and grace was lost to the both of us. His hips bucked wildly against the palm of my hand -- my fingers began to slam down against a swollen knot at the base of his cock.

"P-Prince," he stammered out, his voice drowned in ecstasy, his body hunched over mine, "I... going to..."

Cum, I would have commanded, with tongue out to accept his seed into my mouth, but Domingo demanded more. Now he was the one who set the pace, his hips slamming against my snout in fast, short thrusts that forced a gag out of me with every tug and pull.

Fernando groaned as his member twitched hard in my hands. The jackal now held himself still and cursed under his breath as he came from my hand alone, orgasmic bliss nearly knocking him over as I felt his cum spray against the side of my head. It seeped into my fur, burned against my skin, and thoroughly marked me as his.

"Haha! A-Already finished?" Domingo laughed, yet even his voice was starting to betray his own coming orgasm. He forced himself to slow down as Fernando pulled back from my hand. "Wait, what are you-"

"Teaching you a lesson, old man," Fernando replied as fell to his knees behind Domingo. I could sometimes see between the Jackal's legs and I knew what Fernando had gotten up to -- hands spread Domingo's ass and a tongue found its mark against his puckered hole. The tight hold on my head loosened up a little bit.

Now locked in Fernando's strong arms, Domingo could no longer set a pace. I dutifully took up the brunt of the work for him, swirling my tongue around the tip of his head, licking his urethra as it spilled some more of his precum, before diving down and taking his cock straight down to his knot.

He moaned as loudly as Lorenzo did, who now masturbated himself furiously as he watched me service my two guards while Fernando eagerly lapped away at Domingo's asshole.

Another hot stream of cum hit me, this time from my right side. Alonso, in all this time, had stroked himself as I eagerly fondled his sensitive balls. To my shame I'd been so distracted that I hardly placed as much attention on him as I should have, but to know that he'd found his pleasure in my touch and at the sight of me brought me joy. He staggered back, sat on the cold rock beneath, and watched with a grin on his face as Domingo built himself up to his own climax.

The assault on his senses must have been overwhelming, one tongue on his cock and another deep inside his ass. His confident nature fumbled and shattered as he found himself begging.

"Just like that!" Domingo would exclaim, his hand stroking the back of my head in eager praise as I licked up along the length of his shaft, squeezing out with my tongue as much of his nectar as I could before I, again, slowly, lowered myself down his pole till I was kissing his engorged knot with my lips. "I... Calvantes, you feel so..."

His words died out as I felt cum surge through his cock, its girth filling out my mouth entirely before he violently exploded down my throat. Claws dug into the back of my head and wordless praise was showered onto me as I swallowed every last drop of his seed.

The opportunity to savour him lasted but a moment -- with Domingo's cock still buried down my throat I couldn't turn and look at Lorenzo, who in his heated masturbation suddenly climaxed to both his and my surprise. He showered me with his cum while praising me like Domingo had done.

That I was a good man. That I was a good prince. That I was a good friend.

That I belonged to all of them, both body and mind, just as much as they belonged to me.

That I would never be alone for as long as this exile lasted. That I would be cared for. That I would be loved.

That we will all find our new home together.

Together they all held me in their arms and carried me deeper into the cave. Together the five of us lay in a pile, the combined heat of our bodies sheltering us from the bitter cold of the Sommerian Desert as I felt their tongues lapping away at my fur.

Together we slept and dreamt of a new home. Alonso, Domingo, Fernando, Lorenzo, and poor Pedrito too.