The Hero Part 2
This is part two of the story of Flint and his Knight. You will find that the first part has been updated, to reflect changes and expand the character descriptions. The basics of the sotry remain unchanged, but I think its been imporved greatly with the help of others.
I would really like to here critics and suggestions for how to improve this story. I wish to polish this story up as best I can, in the hopes of getting it published, so leave comments detailing any mistakes I've made..
And now the annoying warning message:
This story deals with sex between males in very graphic detail. If you're not over 18 it is illegal for you to even look at this so stop reading right now. If homosexual content is not your cup of tea, you can leave my tea party. The characters and story are copyright Teiran's player 2005, do not redistribute without permission. Otherwise, enjoy!
-Teiran
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The Hero - Part 2
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Flint's ears twitched as someone knocked on the door. The hyena tried to sit up, but found himself tangled up in Aldain's arms. The wolf instinctively clutched him back against his chest, and the made Flint's heart soar as the still sleeping male held him. The hyena's whole body tingled with joy as the wolf hugged him protectively.
The knocking came again, and this time the wolf woke up as well. The wolf blinked unsteadily, looking at Flint's smiling face in a haze for a moment. Then fear flashed in Aldain's eyes and he quickly got up. He almost fell out of bed, trying to untanlge himself from Flint and he got to the door just as it started to open. He kept whoever it was from opening the door more then an inch, using the door to shield the room and his naked body from whomever it was outside.
Flint couldn't hear who it was, but it was probably one of the wolf's companions come to wake him up. The hyena watched as the wolf began to pack up his things, quickly collecting everything he had brought to the tiny inn room into a pair of saddlebags. Aldain did not look at Flint even once while he packed, his eyes carefully avoiding the bed where the naked hyena lay. Flint stretched a little and yawned before pushing himself up so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. The hyena's paws swung back and forth just above the floor as he watched the wolf moved back and forth.
The hyena rubbed the sleep from his eyes and pulled on his own shorts, saying nothing as the wolf dressed. It felt so good just be in Aldain's presence, and anything he might say could destroy that. Flint felt safe just being so close to the wolf that had saved him and taken him to bed. Flint knew should have been downstairs by now making breakfast for the guests but he wasn't going to leave now. He wanted to hold onto this feeling as long as he could. He knew the knight was leaving.
Eventually Aldain was fully dressed and packed, his chain mail shirt draped over the strong body that had held Flint so close during the night. The last things Aldain put on was a small gold chain from his bedside, which he tucked inside his chain mail with the Prophet's Cross emblazoned across the front. When he finally turned to face Flint, their eyes meet and they stared at each other unsure what to say. Once again, Aldain was a stalwart Knight of the Cross and Flint was a peasant boy. It felt to Flint that an ocean separated them, even though he could still reach out and touch the wolf.
"You..." Flint voice cracked, and he had to force back his tears to speak, "You won't stay will you. Even if I ask you to?" Flint looked up at Aldain with tears in his eyes.
The wolf shook his head slowly. "No, I can't." he said, barely above a whisper. Flint could hear the sadness in the knight's voice, and tears were brimming in both their eyes.
"I could come with you." Flint got up and put his head against the wolf's chest, wrapping his arms tightly around the wolf's waist. He wanted to capture one more intimate moment with the wolf before he was gone forever. "I would follow you anywhere," the hyena whimpered softly, his tears starting to run down his cheeks.
The wolf put one arm around the hyena's shoulders, but it brought Flint little comfort to be held this time. The wolf's embrace was cold, his arms and chest covered in the ring mesh of his armor instead of the warm fur Flint had become so accustomed to during their night together.
Flint looked up into the wolf's face as tears began to stream down his cheeks. Aldain's paw gently caressed his head, and for a moment Flint felt that tender spark again. It made his knees weak to feel the wolf's bare paw pad against his face. The hyena breathed in the wolf's scent and smiled, his eyes half closed as he pressed his muzzle against the knight's paw. Their noses just touched.
Aldain stared into the hyena's face and the wolf's heart broke. Flint's face light up with so much joy; all because of something so simple as the touch of his paw. The whole world seemed to shine as Flint smiled. For a moment, the wolf wanted to throw everything away just to keep that smile for his own.
He could leave the Order behind and build a house somewhere deep in the wilds. Aldain knew he had the means to live with this sweet young man for the rest of his life in relative comfort. Aldain's heart ached for the happiness such a life would bring him, and he knew it was the kind of happiness his life on the open road and his duties would never bring him.
The knight hung his head, and brushed the hyena's tears away. However wonderful it would be, he could not bring himself to betray his faith and abandon his oaths completely. He had become a Knight of the Cross at his father's death bed, a final promise as the old knight drew his last breath. He could not abandon that forever, even if his heart was tempted from time to time by a night of pleasure with another male. The wolf steeled his heart and he kissed Flint gently on the lips. "I'm sorry Flint, but you know that can't happen. I have duties to uphold. I could not give you the life you deserve." The wolf took the hyena's hand and bowed his head in shame as the boy's smile faded away. "Here at least you can live peacefully and safely. You may not be a cub, but you are still young." The wolf's words tasted bitter in his mouth, but he knew it was for the best. Flint had to stay here for both their sakes.
Flint nodded softly, tears still streaming down his cheeks. "I know. I just... Promise me you will come back one day." The hyena pressed his head against the wolf's chest. "I'll think about you every day and make a home here so that you have something to come back too."
Aldain closed his eyes and his heart just broke. How could he tell Flint he could never come back here? His vows were until death, but could he really shatter such an innocent person by denying him hope? Aldain sinned once more for the small boy who made his heart sing. "I will." The wolf lied, and kissed Flint on the forehead. "When my service is at an end I will come back to you."
The wolf reached into his shirt and removed the gold necklace from his neck. He draped the small golden cross around Flint's head, and the hyena's ears twitched backward as the gold chain passed over them. The gold settled into the cream colored fur on his neck, and Aladin kissed away a tear from the hyena's cheek. "Keep this, to remember me by." Aldain whispered before turning away.
Flint sniffed a little as Aldain opened the door and stepped out of the room. Flint watched from the doorway, one paw holding the door jam as the other clutched the wolf's cross. Aldain went downstairs to the main common room without looking back. Flint could hear the voices of the wolf and his companions as the talked, and the ominous sound of the inn's front door closing behind them as they left. Outside, horses whinnied and Flint's knight in shining armor rode towards the west and out of his life.
Flint closed the door, tears streaming down his cheeks as he sobbed his heart out into the bed they had shared. The small room was cold without the wolf there to hold him.
Across the hallway from the knight's room, another door closed with a soft click. Behind that door, Clara seething with rage at what she had seen.
***
The day passed slowly, and Flint had to fight back tears as he went about his chores. Tongish did not care why Flint was upset. He cuffed the boy every time the hyena broke down in front of a guest, and by the time Flint had finished washing the dishes after supper his ears were ringing badly.
Flint sighed as he finished the last dish. His paws burned, his back was sore and his heart ached in a way he had not imagined was possible. All he wanted to do was go to his room and collapse. The hyena sniffed a little, his paw falling to the Propeht's Cross that hung around his neck. Over the course of ht eday, it had become a comforting gesture to the hyena. Flint knew that if he could curl up in Aldain's arms again then everything would be all right. Flint poured the wash water out side the back door and finished putting the dishes away. He jumped a little when the kitchen door flew open and Tongish stomped into the kitchen with a growl.
The big tiger looked madder then Flint had ever seen him before. His tail was puffed out like a bottlebrush and it lashed back and forth as he loomed over Flint, an accusing finger pointing down that the much shorter hyena.
"BOY! Tell me she is lying. Tell me now!" He roared, his teeth actually barred in anger. Flint whimpered and ducked away from the tiger.
"Wha, what are you talking about?" Flint stammered, barely avoiding the tiger's big fist as Tongish lashed out at him. It just connected with his shoulder, but the blow sent Flint tumbling to the floor all the same. Flint blinked in surprise. It had been a real punch, not just a disciplinary swat. Tongish had never hit him like that before. The tiger would probably have knocked him out cold if he had connected.
Tongish snarled down at Flint. "The knight, you rutting tail raiser! Tell me Clara did not see you come out of his room this morning!" Tongish pointed at his daughter, who was standing smugly in the doorway with her arms crossed. Flint's eyes widened and his ears flicked backwards. His mouth hung open a little as he stared in shock at Clara's triumphant, evil grin.
"You were, weren't you?" The tiger's voice was cold and deadly, and Flint looked up into Tongish's eyes. The tiger was studying his face carefully, and Flint knew there was no way he had concealed his reactions well enough to lie now. He just whimpered softly, "Please, I don't understand what's wrong..."
Flint yelped in pain as Tongish grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him to his feet. The boy struggled and stumbled, his arms flailing uselessly as the tiger opened the back door and hurled him out into the street.
Flint grunted in pain as he rolled to a stop against the side of the butcher's store. He staggered to his feet as the inn's door closed, and the hyena's paws thudded against the wooden door as Tongish barred it from the inside.
Flint panted, staring at the closed door in shock. "Tongish?" he called out softly. Only silence greeted him. "Tongish! Open the door! Please!" The hyena's voice took on a higher pitch, and he flattened his ears as he whined. Flint raced around the inn to the front door, his shoulder throbbing as he banged into the door and found it solidly barred form the inside. "Tongish!" Flint cried out, a loud whine that echoed in the quiet night. No one answered, and a few people in the street turned to stare at Flint as he crumpled against the inn door.
The hyena sniffed, sobs over taking him. His claws dug into the wood of the door uselessly, and the hyena threw back his head and howled pitifully as night began to fall. Only echoes answered back.
After a minute, an upstairs window opened up, and Tongish leaned outside. The tiger's angry stare bore holes in Flint. "Shut it boy, you hear me? I ever see around here again, and I'll get my sword."
Flint's heart sank as he looked up at the tiger. He was deadly serious. The hyena searched for anything to say but there was nothing. He just swallowed nervously and stayed silent as the tiger closed the window.
Flint looked around the small main street of East Haven. A few people had pulled back their curtains, but none of them seemed willing to come over and see what was wrong. Only one of the town's two guards seemed the least bit interested, he had not even gotten up off the low wall he usually sat on.
Flint slumped against the side of the inn. Tongish had thrown him out. He had no home. Flint glared at the ground and kicked a rock away. Not that the inn had been a good home, but it was a place to be. It was a life. Now he had nothing. The setting sun reflected off the golden Prophet's Cross that hung around his neck, and the little hyena felt a smile creep across his muzzle. He had a life here. That was what Aldain had said, wasn't it? Now there was nothing keeping him here. He could follow Aldain as far as he wanted to now.
Flint raced down the street and stopped in front of the bored coyote that sat on the wall at the edge of town, guarding against intruders. "Where was the Knight's party going?" He asked, breathless and with a big grin.
The coyote shifted and stared at him for a second. "Newcastle."
"Where's that?" Flint asked, his tail beginning to wag back and forth.
"Its fifty leagues west of here down the High road." The coyote pointed down the road, and Flint nearly jumped for joy as he dashed off down the path.
"Hey!' The coyote called after him, and Flint skidded to a stop. The guard grunted as he dropped down from the wall, digging into his pockets. "If you're going to go running off like damn fool boy, you had better take this." Flint held out his paws and the guard dropped several coins into them. "And you had better buy food with it, you here me?" The coyote growled roughly at him, "It's a nearly two week's walk to Newcaslte. Be sure to take the right fork when the road splits, or you'll never make it there, understand?" Flint grinned up at the coyote and yipped in agreement. The guard looked sternly down at him, until a slight grin pulled at the coyote's muzzle. Flint laughed and then rushed back into town to buy food.
The guard shook his head and went back to his post.
***
Flint wearily put on paw in front of the other, staggering slightly as the sun beat down on him through the trees. Traveling to Newcaslte and finding Aldain had sounded like a wonderful idea two weeks ago back in East Haven, but by the end of the third day Flint found out why most people never left his tiny home town. Walking through the Mistwind Mountains was not easy going, even on a well-traveled road like the High Pass. During the morning everything was covered in a dense fog, and without the road Flint would have been helplessly lost. By midday, the sun had burned off the fog and turned the rocky dirt road into a unbearably hot strip of dirt. Sometimes, it rained in the after noon and soaked Flint to the skin, his fur unable to hold back the torrents of cold water that came crashing out of the sky of the mud that clung to his paws.
Flint shook his canteen over his mouth, and when nothing came out he snaked his tongue up the opening to get the last drops of water before forcing himself to move forward again. At least when it rained he had water to drink. If he kept walking, he might find another stream where he could drink his fill and restore his canteen to a heavy fullness. The small sack he had been carrying food in was long empty now. The meager coins the coyote had given him had bought far less food then he had hoped it would, but it had kept him alive this long. Flint seriously doubted he would have been able to make it this far without being able to eat that first week on the trail. He had not found many plants he recognized as edible along the way.
Flint crested a rather large foothill and found that it was pleased to find it formed the edge of the Mistwood forest. He stopped to lean against a tree, and the hyena's spirits brightened when he looked out over the rolling green fields towards the city of Newcastle. The high Road traveled down the valley, past many farms and fallow fields and right into the city. It was a real city too, not the tiny rest stop that East Haven was. It had a high wall around it, and an honest to goodness castle build along side the river. Flint had never seen a place that looked so incredible. He rushed down the valley, scrambling over rocks and fallen trees until he hit the flat road between the farmlands.
The farmers were out in the spring air, sewing their fields with heavy, oxen drawn plows. Some even looked up in curiosity at the small hyena running past their farms, panting loudly enough for some of them to wonder where the fire was. Flint did not stop however; he ran all the way to the city gates with his tail wagging back and forth the whole way.
The guards at the city gates were far more attentive then the guards he was used to. They were dressed in real armor made of metal plates, not the dirty leather armor the coyote's at home wore. They prevented him from entering the city at first, demanding to know who he was and why he was running so fast. They seemed really threatening, holding their spears across his path.
At least, they were until Flint told them he was looking for a Knight. At that point, one of them saw the golden cross around his neck and let him pass without further question. Flint kissed the little Prophet's cross and grinned, racing through the streets in search of his knight.
Flint was quickly lost inside the city. Everyone he asked told him that the castle was the place to look for a knight. The Church of the Prophet had built it as their main chapel in the region, and they would know where to find one of their Knights. Finding the castle however, proved far more difficult then Flint thought it would be. He could see it from anywhere in the city, its towers rose several stories above even the biggest town houses, but the streets between him and the castle were a maze of buildings, alleyways and tiny markets. Carts did not stop for anyone under paw and no one wanted to help him look, so the hyena had to dodge and duck his way through the streets. It seemed like forever before he reached the castle gates. The guards did not look eager to let himin either, and refused to even talk with him. Flint was about to despair, when he heard laughter that made his heart jump. It was Aldain's voice.
Flint spun around and yipped for joy. Coming down the street was Aldain, followed by the jackal Will, Lord Trenton, even Father Tully. They were all walking as group, and Aldain was laughing at something the jackal had said. It was a big hearty laugh that made Flint smile. Flint felt like his fur was standing on end and he almost danced in the street. The wolf was really here. He had found him! Flint raced towards Aldain; shouting his name.
Aldain was laughing so hard that his stomach hurt when he heard someone call his name. He turned around towards the voice just in time to catch whoever it was right in the chest as they barreled into his arms. The wolf yelped in surprised as someone short hyena threw their arms around his neck and clung to him, nearly knocking Aldain. The wolf's arms instinctively closed around the person to keep them from falling, but he quickly let go once he realized whom it was.
"Flint!" he barked in surprise as the hyena's grip around his neck pulled him forward, making him stoop slightly. "What in the hells are you doing here?" The wolf gapped in shock at the young man. The rest of the party stood around them, mouths open as at the smiling hyena started to talk.
"I found you! I can't believe I found you! I know you told me to stay but I walked all the way here because Tongish threw me out of the inn. He threw me out with nothing at all! I guess he was mad that you choose me over Clara, which I still don't understand why he would be mad about you not sleeping with her, because he was always made when someone did, but it doesn't matter now. Because now I can follow you anywhere, and I'm so happy!" The hyena's words tumbled out all in one quick breath as he nearly bounced in place with joy. When he finally ran out of breath he kissed Aldain right on the lips.
Flint's joyous reunion ended in one quick shove. The hyena felt like he had been stabbed in the heart as Aldain pushed him away and backpedaled so fast the wolf ran right into a wall. The wolf's eyes were as big as plates, and he staring at Flint in utter disbelief. There was a collective gasp from the wolf's companions, and Flint was just as equally surprised that Aldain had pushed him away.
The fox mage put his paws up to his muzzle and with a girlish laugh said, "Oh my god..." in a high-pitched voice.
The jackal sneered a bit and glared at the wolf, but he laughed a little too.
The otter did not laugh. In fact, Father Tully was so angry that he was shaking, and he stared at Flint with a fire in his eyes the likes of which the hyena had never seen before.
"What did you say boy?" the priest shouted, his staff banging heavily on the ground as he stomped up to the hyena. "Is what you said true? Did you follow us here from that inn in East Haven? You were with Aldain the night we were there?" The otter roared, his words carrying a good distance as he shouted in Flint's face.
Flint turned his head to the side, his ears twitching backwards as he stared up at the angry otter in confusion and fear. He had no idea how to react, so he just sort of shrunk in place. Aldain had shoved him away, and now the otter was yelling at him. The little hyena's mind barely worked. "Yes..." he whispered, and the otter rounded on Aldain like a whip.
"Nothing happened, did it? 'Must have been another wolf in the village', huh? Do not lie to me again Knight. Did you sleep with this boy?" The otter pointed at Flint, and everyone seemed to blush at one time. The jackal looked away, the fox had a sympathetic look on his face and Aldain looked like he was about to die as the otter's staff thumped against his chest.
Aldain blinked once in shock as he pressed against the wall, his eyes fixed on Flint's face. Time seemed to be caught in this one horrible moment for the wolf. Everyone was waiting for him to answer. The shorter hyena looked up at him with such an innocent face, his big green eyes filling with tears at the sudden reject. Aldain couldn't lie about what they had done, not in front of Flint. It would break the boy's heart.
"Yes..." he said, and the admission made Flint's face light up. The hyena began to move forward again trying to hug Aldain, but the otter priest swung his staff hard and dealt Flint a painful blow to the head. The hyena's cried out like a wounded pup and he collapsed to the ground.
"You perverted scum stay away from him." Father Tully swore under his breath, and the otter clutched his staff like it was a mace. Flint whined in pain and rolled away from the priest, and he found the jackal was suddenly crouched over him protectively. Flint blinked unsteadily, the black face and muzzle seeming to swim in the air above him as the jackal checked his head. Father Tully meanwhile got right up in Aldain's face again.
"I knew you were breaking your vows. Why do you think I insisted I come with you Knight? Did you think you could hide this from us forever" The otter hissed angrily, "These heathens have affected your mind, and now you consort with this, this... tail raiser like a filthy pervert? What did it bring you Knight? Was the pleasure worth damnation?" Aldain winced, and looked away from the angry priest's face, a low whine escaping his throat.
"You disgust me." The otter muttered and turned to the guards that had come running do to the commotion. "You there," the otter commanded, "Bring the boy and the Knight. We'll see how you like being tail raisers in jail. Maybe we can starve the sin out of you both till you stand trial."
The crowd that had gathered gave a collective gasp, which was echoed by Lord Trenton. "Father Tully, that's not very fair..." the fox started to say, but the otter rounded on him as well.
"Do you wish to join them Lord Trenton? I have my suspicions about the status of your tail as well, and I can produce more then enough proof to ruin you." The otter's tone left nothing to the imagination that the proof would be found, real or not.
The fox's big blue eyes narrowed, and he glared daggers at the priest. "Do not threaten me holy man. You know there is nothing you can do to a noble." The fox twitched his tail back and forth in anger, and his paws took taking on a fiery blue glow, "and if you try to take that boy I will stop you."
"You would dare attack me boy?" The otter's paws being to glow with a violent red light.
On the ground, Flint let out a whimper as the jackal touched his forehead gently. The hyena looked up at Aldain for help, but the wolf seemed frozen. Flint reached his paw out and struggled to touch him, his vision beginning to blur badly. "Help me..." Flint whined, his paw reaching out for the wolf's cloak as the jackal did something he could not see. The wolf's eyes locked with his own, and they seemed to harden for a moment.
Aldain was about to move when Will shouted, "If anyone so much as moves, then the priest sings soprano come Sunday morning."
Flint looked back at the jackal who was crouched over him, and he was shocked to see that Will had drawn his knife and placed it, rather discreetly between the otter's legs, right up under his thick tail. Father Tully was standing very, very still, and the guards stopped their advance on the fox mage. William held the dagger in place as he stood up, putting his other arm around the otter's neck, where his other wicked looking dagger pricked at the old otter's throat. "And if you say one more word of that spell holy man, and you will never sing again. Understand?"
Everyone seemed to freeze as Anthony held Father Tully at knifepoint. "Here's how this is gonna work," the jackal said quietly, addressing the guards and the crowd. "You lot will leave, and the boy will stay with us. You go quiet, and nobody gets hurt. If anyone makes trouble for us after today, and the old man misses his next sermon. Got it?" the jackal hissed, and pressed the knife closer to the old priest's throat.
"You can't do this." The otter muttered angrily, but the glow was leaving his paws and the guards were taking a few steps back.
"Sure I can. Now beat it." The jackal shoved Father Tully away from the group, and the priest stumbled a little before finding his feet. He rubbed at his throat, and glared at the jackal.
"I will not forget this." The otter said coldly.
"You had better. I'm very good at scaling castle walls, and I bet you'd make a great choirboy. Understand?" the jackal said with a sneer and a rather rude gesture with his knife later, the otter was stomping away in a huff.
A few seconds passed, and Flint sat up unsteadily. Father Tully eventually turned back towards them, his eyes still filled with a fire. "Knight! What do you think you are doing just standing there? Follow me." Aldain blinked in surprise and looked up from Flint's face at the retreating priest. "NOW." The otter barked angrily. "Or you will find yourself cast out of our order before you can take another breath."
Flint looked up at Aldain, and the knight's eyes meet his. Aldain began to smile just a little bit, his shoulders relaxing until the otter's next words cut through the air like knives. "Your family of course, will be disgraced."
Flint watched Aldain's face as the wolf's muzzle twisted into a mournful expression. Flint could see the knight's heart and his faith fighting for control, and the hyena bit his lip in fear. The wolf's tail drooped low, and he flattened his ears in shame. The wolf's eyes met Flint's for just a moment, and he whispered, "I'm sorry." before slowly turning towards Father Tully and the castle.
"NO!" Flint shouted. He got to his feet and tried to run after Aldain, but he stumbled after only a few steps. The jackal caught him and held him back by the scruff of his neck. Aldain turned to look back at Flint, and his face was a mask of shame and sorrow. "No..." Flint whined loudly, but the wolf did not move towards him.
"I'm so sorry Flint..." Aldain's voice sounded dead and all the emotion was drained from his face. Just looking at him broke Flint's heart. The knight's once shining face looked like the corpse he had first saved Flint from. His eyes were haunted and his jaw trembled as he took another step away from the hyena.
Aldain looked up at his former companions to say goodbye, but the jackal cut him off with a shake of his head. "You've made your choice Aldain." The jackal said angrily as he held the struggling hyena back. "You can't apologize now. I'll make sure he's safe you coward."
Aldain nodded once, and then looked at the fox. "Trenton." He said simply, and the fox just hung his head in sadness as the wolf turned away.
Flint shouted and tried to follow Aldain, but the jackal held him firmly in place. Flint's vision began to blur again, and it suddenly felt like he was falling as the wolf moved farther and farther down the street. Then it felt like Flint was outside his body, and the hyena could only barely hear himself shouting as Aldain followed Father Tully around that last corner. When the castle gates closed behind him, Flint's world collapsed into darkness.
***
When Flint could feel again, all he could feel was pain throbbing from the side of his head. It hurt so badly it overwhelmed all his thoughts. The hyena tried to clutch at his forehead, but he could not move his arms or legs. He struggled to open his eyes but the world swam across his vision as if he was underwater and the world was melting. A face formed out of the colored swirls drew close to Flint's face. He tried to pull away from it, but he couldn't, and then a heavy paw came to rest on his forehead. Flint cried out in pain at the touch, but then the pain began to recede. The face cleared, and the coyote holding his forehead came into view. He had a strange green robe on, with a large hood that draped over his face. Flint stared at him for just a moment, before he lost consciousness again.
***
Flint opened his eyes slowly. His head no longer hurt, but he was unsure of exactly what had happened. It seemed like a dream, but he could not be sure. He pushed himself up onto all fours unsteadily and shook his head a bit, trying to clear his thoughts.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, little one." Flint turned his ears towards the sound, and then looked over at the jackal that was sitting across the room at a small writing desk. It was Will, and his black fur seemed to glimmer in the lamplight. He was dressed in a white shirt and brown shorts, and those colors seemed to leap out on him because of the deep black color of his fur. The jackal was holding a thick iron bar in one paw, which he raised and lowered in smooth motions. He seemed to be swapping the heavy round bar back and forth between both paws, and Flint numbly realized that must be how his body had gotten so well defined. "You feeling better?"
The hyena worked his mouth, trying to get the taste of sleep out of him mouth. "No," he whispered softly, surprised that talking hurt his throat a little, "Where am I?" the hyena muttered uncertainly, looking around the small room. The jackal smiled as Flint rubbed a paw across his muzzle, trying to get the fur on his face to return to normal instead of the matted mess it was.
"One of the finest flop houses of Newcastle. No questions asked of the patrons, no answers give to the guards. Trenton and I brought you here after you passed out in the street." The jackal set the heavy bar down and began to stretch out his legs, shaking them a bit. "Father Tully got you good. I'm surprised you woke up so soon after being healed. I thought you would be out all night."
Flint flattened his ears a bit. "Oh." he said quietly, sitting up on the edge of the bed. He numbly realized his shirt was missing and that it was night outside. He had actually been unconscious all day. Flint rubbed the side of his head where Father Tully's staff had caught him. It did not hurt any more, so the coyote in his dreams must have been real. Flint rubbed a paw through the short fur on his chest and was about to ask Will another question when the jackal did something completely unexpected.
Will got up from the chair, but instead of just standing up he placed both of his front paws on the floor and did a hand stand out of the chair. Flint stared, blinked his eyes, and stared again as the bulky jackal's legs went right over his head and up into the air. The jackal moved his front paws, walking on his hands for a moment before doing the splits. Flint's mouth dropped open as the jackal began to do a whole routine of stretches and strange poses, twisting his muscled, but obviously lithe body into many positions flint did not even think possible.
When he thought he could say something without making Will fall over, Flint asked, "Wha... what are you doing?"
The jackal twisted his head to look at Flint. "Stretching." Flint blinked and shook his head. Will had one foot pressed against the ceiling, and the other planted flat on the floor, and his arms were stretched out to the wall, and he had somehow not fallen over. It was hard to watch the jackal without feeling like he was watching a baker make pretzels.
"Why?" the hyena asked, his voice filled with curosity.
William went back to standing normally. "Cause I'm a thief." The jackal said with a slight shrug.
Flint tilted his head to the side. No one who was a thief would just admit that right? Will sighed a little bit when he saw the look of confusion on the hyena's face. "I break into tombs Flint, not houses. The old kingdoms buried a lot of things. Treasures, secrets, magic. They also left traps, locks, and puzzles behind to guard them, and I," the hyena's eyes followed the jackal's head as he did a small flip backflip, landing almost in the exact spot he started from, "get past all that."
"Oh." Flint said quietly as the jackal sat down beside him on the bed. Will was panting slightly now, and he took a large drink of water from a canteen. He handed it to Flint, and the hyena drank deeply. When he had finished the water, Flint held the metal container in both paws, turning it over and over nervously. The sheer oddity of the jackal's behavior had calmed him, but he could feel the sadness creeping back into his chest now that they were just sitting together. The jackal was digging through a large sack, which appeared to be the only gear he had.
"Will?" Flint said quietly, and the jackal glanced up at him.
"Yes?" he said simply, and Flint was struck by how odd the jackal's muzzle was. Flint had not looked at it up close before, but it was very narrow and the way his cheekbones were set made Will looked like he was always smirking.
"What did I do wrong?" The hyena said quietly, his ears drooping a bit.
"What did Aldain do wrong, you mean?" the jackal said. Will looked up at Flint, and he was struck by the sheer despair on the boy's face.
"No. What did I do wrong? I don't understand happened. Why everyone got so mad." Tears began to well up in those big green eyes, and the hyena seemed to be searching the jackal's face for an answer. "Why did Father Tully hit me? What did I do to make Aldain push me away like that?" The hyena began to stumble over his words and he began to cry openly. "Why would he leave me? He said..." Flint's sobs got so loud that he choked slightly, a yip escaping his throat as his cheeks turned into rivers. "He said he loved me."
Will stared at the boy beside him in shock. He was blaming himself for the wolf's rejections. How could Flint believe that when the wolf was so obviously the one at fault? The jackal watched the boy for a moment, and then Will realized what Aldain had seen in Flint, what had made the wolf lay with him. He was an innocent.
The hyena simply didn't understand what was wrong about his feelings. He just wanted the male he loved to hold him, and then everything would be okay. The sincerity in his desire was so simple it pulled at even Will's heart. Flint cared for the wolf so completely that he didn't understand anything else, and wanted nothing more then to undo whatever it was he had done wrong.
That kind of unconditional love was something the jackal had never seen before, and it made him angry that it had been thrown away so carelessly. Aldain was fool to give it up. Will moved closer to Flint, putting his arms around the small hyena. "Come here cub, come here." He whispered softly.
Flint's sobs turned back into words for just a few seconds. "I, I'm not a cub. I'm nineteen..." the last word was more of a moan then anything else, and Flint buried his head into the jackal's lap and just cried. William held him gently, rocking the crying young hyena back and forth without saying anything. The truth was he didn't know what to do. He'd never seen a male cry like this before, and no female he'd been with had ever been so open about her feelings. The jackal closed his eyes and sighed. If he ever found someone who loved him like young man loved Aldain, he would never have let him go.
Will tried to think of something to say, but he just couldn't think of a way to explain what had happened. The boy just had no concept of what was wrong with being a tail-raiser.
Will put one black paw on Flint's head and began to pet the small mane of dark fur that formed his head fur and ran just down his back. "Flint, you need to understand some things about the world, before you can understand what happened today. Okay?"
Flint turned his head a bit, his big green eyes looking up at the jackal. "Like what?" he sniffed softly, his nose pressed against the jackal belly.
The jackal suppressed a sigh and tried to force the words out. The boy looked much too cute for him to be cruel about this, even with tears streaked down his face. "You didn't do anything wrong Flint. This isn't your fault, okay?" Will drug his claws through the boy's head fur, scritching him slightly to comfort him.
The boy's chest rumbled just a bit, and he stopped crying. "But how is it not my fault?" Flint turned over slowly to lie on his back. Will bit his lip as the hyena's shoulder's rested in his lap, and he pressed his muzzle against his stomach. It brought the young male much closer to parts of the jackal Will did not want to think about right now. "I... I followed him. He told me to stay, but I had to follow him. Is that what Aldain is mad about?" Flint's ears lifted up, and he looked up hopefully at the jackal. "That I don't have a way to support myself any more? I can get job here, there must be an inn that needs..."
The jackal flattened his ears and sighed, his paw coming to rest on Flint's chest. The hyena rested back against the bigger male's lap, his ears drooping a bit. "No Flint, that's not it." The jackal sighed, and cursed his one time friend. He would make Aldain pay for this. Breaking this poor boy's heart was not what he signed up for. "Flint, have you ever known a tail-raiser before Aldain?"
Flint shook his head a bit, his tears stopping for the time being. "No, is that some kind of knight?"
The jackal laughed a bit, his ears twisting forward as he looked up at the ceiling. He leaned back a bit, just to get some distance between his muzzle and the hyena's. "No, not usually. A tail-raiser is a male who lays with another males, like you did with Aldain."
Flint's ears swiveled backwards, and he squirmed a little as he blushed. Will tried hard not to find the genuine reaction as cute, but the young man seemed to brim with youthful attractiveness. "Oh, umm... okay." Flint muttered and put his paws on his chest, his tail actually curling up between his legs to cover his crotch even though he was wearing pants. It was perhaps the cutest thing Will had ever seen, and it made him grit his teeth.
Will shook his head and smiled, petting the hyena's headfur softly with one paw. Flint's head fur was fine and smooth, and the jackal could run his fingers through it easily. It was nice, just petting the boy. "You don't know much about the Church of the Prophet, do you Flint?" The boy shook his head, and Will sighed softly. "The Church believes that tail raisers are abominations. Their prophet hunted them in the old days, and they believe them to be devils in disguise. Its all nonsense of course, but they've convinced the king, and he's outlawed it. That was why Father Tully attacked you like that, and why Aldain told you to stay in East Haven. He didn't want his tryst with you to become public."
Flint blinked a bit, and Will wasn't sure the boy fully understood. "So, he was trying to protect me?" Will scowled a little as the boy searched for a way to digest this without shattering the image he had constructed of Aldain.
"He was protecting himself. He didn't want to lose his knighthood." The jackal corrected, a bit of anger creeping into his voice. "He should never have been with you in the first place. When you and Adain spent the night together, he broke almost every vow he took as a Knight of the Cross."
Flint began to sniffle again, and his chest trembled slightly with repressed sobs. "But, but he wanted me to be safe. He was going to come back after he had finished his duties. He just wanted me to be safe until then." the boy's words became desperate, and he sat up to look the jackal in the eyes, his tail suddenly out and wagging as he perked up his ears. The hyena put his paws on Will's chest as he crouched beside the jackal on the bed, literally in the begging position, "Aldain did this because he didn't want me to get hurt." The hyena's eyes pleaded desperately with the jackal. "Right?"
The jackal petted Flint's head softly, and he looked right into the boy's eyes. "He was never coming back Flint. A knight serves until he dies." William Jacks felt like the most horrible, wicked jackal in the world as he watched Flint's heart break.
Flint's jaw began to tremble, and his small black nose twitched like he was about to sneeze. His ears turned slowly backwards, and the boy's eyes filled up with tears again. The boy's chest heaved and his paws clenched and unclenched, gripping the jackal shirt tightly. He tucked his tail so far between his legs it wrapped around the front, concealing his crotch again as he fought back the tears. Will put his arms around the young man, cuddling him gently. The hyena's muzzle pressed against his neck, and Will sighed softly, hating himself completely. Then was like the levies broke and all of Flint's emotions came tumbling out. Will closed his eyes as the boy howled into his shoulder, and he hugged Flint tight.
"Hush, hush it's going to be okay." The jackal whispered and Flint slid his arms around Will's neck. Will gasped a little at the force of the boy's hug, and he hugged Flint back just as tightly. "It'll be alright," the jackal muttered, and they held each other as Flint cried for a long time. The jackal's ears pressed against his head, and he rubbed his muzzle against the boy's face.
It hurt just hearing Flint cry. It was the most soulful, true emotion the jackal had ever heard, but Will knew telling him had been the right thing to do. Aldain was not coming back for him, especially not now. The boy needed to get over him, but that did not make the jackal feel any better about what he had done.
It was so strange. Will had not felt this bad about hurting someone in a long time. He'd stolen all his life, lied to more people then he could possibly remember, and even killed when he had to. Sometimes more then he had too. His life was hard. He was not a noble like Trenton or a Knight living some grand crusade. The jackal thief because he needed to eat, and in the process he had stolen, lied, and cheated his way across half the continent.
But holding this crying young male made him feel more guilt then anything else he'd ever done. It made his heart ache to hear Flint sob into the fur on his shoulder. Maybe it was because the cub was so naïve. Will had no idea what rock the boy had been living under, but he was so innocent. It shocked the jackal because he had never met someone truly innocent before. Will narrowed his eyes, his paw petting the hyena's short mane. Maybe if he could make Flint smiled again, then things would be okay.
Flint sniffled, rubbing a paw across his muzzle as Will pushed him back a little bit. "Come on now," the jackal said evenly. "There's no reason for all this. You can always find someone else who loves you..."
"No, no I can't," Flint sniffed, rubbing the end of his nose with the back of his paw. "How could anyone love me, after what I did to Aldain? He was so kind to me, so gentle, and I ruined his life!" The hyena's eyes pleaded with the jackal, and Will did the only thing he could think of. He kissed the boy.
It was a short and awkward kiss, with a little too much tongue on the jackal's part, but it got the point across. "Stop it." The jackal growled as he stared into the suddenly quiet boy's eyes. "Just stop it. You cannot be with him, but you can still make a life for yourself. Okay?" The jackal rubbed Flint's face, holding one ear between his dexterous fingers.
Flint blinked, shocked that the jackal had kissed him and even more surprised by the intense, determined look on his face. "Okay." The hyena breathed slowly, and all the nervous despair seemed to melt away.
Will leaned forward, rubbing his muzzle against the hyena's. "You did nothing wrong Flint, Aldain did. You're going to be okay. You can start a new life somewhere else, and I promise I'll help you. Okay?" the jackal said with a slight smile.
Flint nodded slightly, and thought about it. The jackal was right of course. He could start over. Even if he never saw Aldain again, as much as that would hurt, finding a new life had to be better then what he had back in East Haven with Tongish and his spoiled daughter.
Besides, Will was being really nice. The jackal had saved him from Father Tully after all, and maybe there was still hope of Aldain changing his mind. Flint felt the corners of his muzzle creeping up into a smile at that thought. "Okay..." he said quietly, smiling slightly at the jackal. For the first time since waking up in this strange room he didn't feel like crying.
"Okay then." The jackal ran a paw through Flint's head fur and stood up. "Now, you need to eat. I'll get you some food and we can sleep. The bed's big enough for two, and I have an extra blanket you can use." The jackal's paw inspected the lump on Flint's head, and the spot still felt tender to the hyena. "If that's still hurting in the morning then I'll take you to a healer again, alright?" Flint nodded as William went down stairs to get some food.
The hyena sat on the edge of the bed, his paws swinging back and forth in the air as he looked out the window. He could see the castle lights from here, and he knew somewhere inside was his knight. Despite what Will had said, Flint would have given anything to be with him at that moment.
***
Aldian would have likewise given anything to be in that little inn room with Flint, instead of in the massive council chamber he was in, surrounded by the Prophet's High Priesthood. Father Tully was so enraged by what had happened, that he had convened the council that very night. Now Aldain was kneeling in the center of the prayer circle, as Father Tully paced in a circle around him, delivering his damning testimony like a Sunday morning sermon. Aldain sighed a little, wishing he could at least stand for this part. Underneath him, the floor was a tiled mosaic of the prophet's cross. It had always impressed the wolf when he came to the council chambers, but now all it did was hurt his knees.
The wolf looked around the council chamber, his head bowed low, and his ears folded back in shame. Around him stretched a long, semi circle table, where the council was seated. Some of the council was missing, and one or two of the older members had been obviously been rudely awakened from their beds. The otter had waited only long enough for a quorum to be gathered before starting his accusations. There was no way he could argue his way out of this. He had admitted the truth right in front of the otter, and a Priest of the Prophet always knows when someone is lying. They can sense it just like a Knight can sense evil. Evil like the walking dead Aldain had sensed back in East Haven.
Aldian could not help but smile at that horrible irony. If he had not been a Knight, there would have been no one to stop him from bedding Flint. He would not be here now, facing charges for following his own instincts. He would be in bed with Flint instead, making love to the young hyena as much as he wanted to.
But if he had not been a Knight of the Cross, then Flint would have died in that little back alleyway. Instead of saved at the last moment, he would have been tore apart by the very evils Adlain had sworn to destroy. The wolf hung his head, as the council made its judgment against him. It was a sad joke for the world to play on him.
***
Flint lay in the strange bed beside Will, staring at the wall. In the darkness, he could only barely see the wood grain even though it was so close to the end of his nose he could smell the ancient wood clearly. Flint sighed a little, trying to force his mind into silence and then sleep, but he just couldn't stop thinking.
Everything was just too similar to his night with Aldain, and yet the differences nagging and pulled at his thoughts. His belly was full of the same kind of meaty, thick stew Tongish always served. Will had broguth him a big bowl and made sure he at every bite, unlike the night he had spent with Aldain when he had eaten nothing at all.
He was sleeping beside a male again, in a real bed for the first time since that night. But the jackal was under a different blanket, and Flint knew the jackal was fast asleep. The way the bed curved under Will's weight, and the heat from his body reminded him of Aldain's embrace, but Flint knew the jackal had no interest in him.
It was so close to being that night that it hurt Flint just to think about it, and try as he might he could not help crying just a little. He hid his head under the pillow, hoping Will would not hear him.
Will opened his eyes, his sharp ears detecting Flint's muffled sobs easily. The jackal reached a paw out, crossing from under his blanket to Flint's. The hyena choked a bit and jumped slightly as Will's touch, and the boy pulled his head out from under the pillow. Flint's eyes gleamed in the low moonlight, and Will put his arm around the boy's shoulder. Flint leaned backward into the jackal's embrace, and soon Will had his arm under Flint's head like a pillow. Will frowned a little as the young man shifted his lower body against the jackal. It was nice, holding Flint like this. The hyena's muzzle was cradled in one arm while the jackal's other encircled his chest, but it also brought the hyena's rump much to close to Will's midsection. He could feel the hyena's bushy tail brushing against the inside of his leg, and Will moved back a bit. Flint's body followed, and before Will realized it he was spooning the young man under a single blanket.
The jackal started to panic just a little, and the yong male's tail brushed against his crotch, rubbing the fabric over Will's sheathe. It made the jackal bite his lip, and he tried not to think about it, but his body betrayed him. The gentle pressure excited the jackal, and Flint turned to look at Will when he felt the tell tail pressure of the jackal's erection pressed against his butt.
"Will?" Flint whispered silently, and the jackal knew it was a request. The jackal let out a soft whine, but he could tell Flint was already moving. The cub fumbled with his pants for a moment, and then the hyena's leather britches slide down, revealing his soft bare butt to the jackal. Will held his breath, trying not to pant as the hyena's soft fur rubbed against the front of his cotton pants. Flint looked back at him again with eager eyes. "Please?" the hyena whispered, and the jackal could not resist.
Black paws, usually dexterous and steady, fumbled with the drawstring of Will's shorts. The jackal pushed his pants down around his knees, about level with where Flint's were. Their two nearly naked bodies pressed close together, and Will whined gently when he felt the hyena's tail flick to the side. Flint smiled slightly as he exposed himself to the jackal's probing shaft, and the hyena made the cutest murr when Will nibbled on the back of his neck possessively. Will was panting by the time he stopped pawing and caressing the hyena's body. He leaned over and grabbed out a jar of oil from his bag. He usually used to make breaking into houses easier, and now he suspected it would make entering the hyena easier too.
Will panted as he applied the oil to his shaft, and Flint rolled onto his belly, his rump thrust slightly into the air. The jackal moved behind and over the young male. Will pressed against the hyena's back door and guided himself in with one paw, the other paw gripping Flint's right paw tightly. Flint's body tensed as the jackal entered him, and the hyena's fingers laced with Will's, squeezing tightly as the jackal joined them together. Once he was all the way in Will took the hyena's other paw in his and lay down on top of him, the jackal's front pressed against Flint's back. Flint was whimpering softly, but he was smiling too. The taller jackal smiled back at him, his muzzle even with Flint's as he began to mate the young male.
Flint whimpered and moaned as Will thrust down into him; and the jackal had a very hard time thinking as he mounted Flint. It was very different, breeding the young male then the women he had been with in the past. Flint's butt was tighter then any girl he had taken, and the hyena pushed back against him in a way no one else had ever done. Each thrust forward made the boy jump and gasp, whimpering and clutching at Will's paws. Will could tell Flint wanted it. He wanted it so badly, his whole body jerked as he thrust back against the jackal's cock. Flint was practically impaling himself on it, and it made will moan in pleasure to take that tight rear. The jackal pressed his muzzle against Flint's, his body shaking, tensing as he thrust into Flint. It was so strange, breeding the young male, and it felt so right. Pushing into the hyena's tight warmth made the jackal's knot grow quickly.
Will slipped his arms around Flint, his paws still holding the hyena's paws tightly as he hugged him to his black furred chest him. The jackal coul dfeel his climax building, getting closer and closer as his knot swelled and pushed against Flint's tight ring. Will whined softly and bite the back of flint's neck gently, his teeth catching the scruff of Flint's neck. He pulled Flint up a little bit and thrust hard, pushing as deeply as he could, battering the young male until his knot slipped, agonizingly slowly into the hyena's tightly clenched tailhole. Will gasped, shaking as he came into Flint, his arms squeezing the young male with all his might.
Flint gasped right along with Will as the jackal tied him, but mostly because the jackal's hug forced all the air from his lungs. The hyena closed his eyes and smiled, his body tingling as another male tied him once more. The strange, wonderful fullness of being taken returned, and Flint basked in it as the jackal on top of him huffed and gave half hearted thrusts that went no where. Will was inside him, tied inside him. The jackal was going nowhere, and Flint loved it. Flint began to buck his hips, rubbing his own cock against the bed beneath him. Will was holding his paws so tightly the jackal might never let go, but Flint wanted, needed release while the jackal was still inside him.
He had to know, if it would be as good as when Aldain had taken him.
Flint grunted and shifted, his body bucking underneath Will's. the jackal's weight held him down, pressing him into the bed. That pressed Flint's cock against the sheets, and the hyena barked and whined as he ground himself against the rough cotton. Flint shuddered, his body spasming as the jackal's thick knot pulled at his insides, and Flint could feel the long shaft of the jackal's dick inside him, hard as a rock as it pushed against his insides. Flint closed his eyes and squeezed down on that shaft, his body shaking as he humped the bed until he came with a high pitched bark and low moan.
The two males lay together for a long time in silence, the dead stillness enveloping them like the jackal's black body enveloped Flint. Will held Flint tightly, his arms wrapped tightly around the hyena, his fingers laced with flint's, so that the hyena's arms were crossed over his chest just like Will's arms were. Will held Flint like that for a long, long time, straddling his body as they both came down from their climaxes. Eventually, Will stopped panting long enough to force out an exasperated, "Why?"
Flint opened his eyes, and stared back at the jackal. Will stared into those green eyes, and he knew he coul dnever let the hyena go now. "Because I needed to know." Flint whispered, his voice sounding far away and his eyes taking on a distant quality.
Will just nodded slightly and he collapsed to the side, pulling Flint's body to the side with him. They ended up in the same spooning position they had started off in, and Flint nestled his head back against Will's shoulder, resting his muzzle in the crook of the jackal's elbow. Will stared at the young man in his arms that he was buried hilt deep into He watched as Flint drifted to sleep, and the jackal wondered why that had just happened.