Mrs. Clements had no qualms making Arve food. In fact, she served everyone food except the sergeant.

Aijun finally got a good look at the hot man chained to him. The sergeant had grayish hair, but wasn’t old in the slightest. A sign of Northern Reina heritage. His eyes were piercing blue, and he had the death stare to show them off.

The only thing keeping the Sergeant in place was the weapon at his back. Emma was diligent enough to take his gun from him. He inadvertently trapped himself.

“How do we go about convincing Mr. Hotty here that I am not a demon?” Aijun asked.

“My name is Adrik Savin. And who are all of you people, anyway?” Adrik looked around at everyone. He moved his right arm, which pulled Aijun’s left arm with it. Looking around the room, his eyes fell on the crew that were clearly out of towners.

Finn stood behind Arve, who was happily munching down on a bowl of whatever was put in front of him. Emma held Adrik’s revolver and her own knife as she sat stiffly to the left of Arve. Mrs. Clements had a glass of water in her hand as she sat at the head of the table. No one said anything because no one really knew how to answer.

“King’s guard from Cape Rilitte.” Finn answered.

“A princess from Carnil.” Emma smiled weakly at Aijun and Adrik.

“A really hungry twenty three year old-” Arve’s sentence was cut off by him stuffing more food into his mouth. Free food wasn’t a normal thing, and he was going to abuse the hell out of it.

Aijun stared in disbelief. He was sitting in a room with a sergeant, a princess, a king’s guard, and a delirious kid. What were the odds? And to top it all off, he was chained to a sergeant who was going to realize sooner or later just who he was.

“How can you be twenty three?” Adrik asked Arve. He stared in a way that told everyone that he was calling this kid on his nonsense. Why would an eleven year pretend to be twenty three? Finn rolled his eyes.

Arve was already getting up to beat the man who questioned him, but Finn caught him by the shoulders and held him down.

“No fights. He’ll see in a few hours anyway. And if you want people to just believe you, maybe stop acting like a stupid child all the time.” Finn grumbled. He repositioned himself on the wall he was leaning on and rested his hand on the sword at his waist. There was that itch again. He could feel the monster begging to be set free.

“You lot are crazy-” Adrik started.

“Honestly, we were just here to set a few dragons free. We don’t want any trouble with the law.” Emma paused to show her distress to the man sitting across from her. “And besides, we don’t even know him. We will be leaving as soon as the sun is up.” Emma reassured Adrik as best she could. That was, until Arve chimed in.

“Actually, we won’t be. I need a job to pay for that loading plank I lost. And Aijun is welcome to come with when we do leave, if he wants.” Arve sounded more like an adult than Finn had ever thought possible. It didn’t surprise him when he had another outburst.

“That reminds me! I’ve got to get to the board early!” He shot up from his chair and thanked Mrs. Clements for her food. He ran out the door with Finn shouting after him. But Arve was too quick, and Finn and the others were left behind.

“What a dear. So polite.” Mrs. Clements laughed. Finn looked shocked but decided to leave that statement alone.

“This is insane. You people are insane.” Adrik rubbed his face.

“Why would I be welcomed to come with?” Aijun wondered aloud. Jonathan snuggled closer to the front of Aijun’s mind. He could feel Jonathan trying to listen in on the conversation intently. AIjun readjusted himself to deal with the extra weight.

“Really, it’s impossible to know what he’s thinking. Maybe he thinks you’re cursed like us.” Emma shrugged halfheartedly. Aijun wanted to ask more about the curses, but Adrik beat him to the punch.

“Cursed!” Adrik ripped Aijun from his seat and sent them flying back together. This would have been okay, if only Aijun hadn’t tripped backward on the chair and landed on top of Adrik. Adrik was still yelling profanity when they pried Aijun off of him.

“You are all cursed? Am I going to catch it? Disgusting.”

No one bothered to entertain that question. All of them had heard it before. Finn had heard it from his lover; Emma had heard it from her father. Jonathan had heard it all his life. And who knew what Arve had to put up with. So much pain in such a little room. So Aijun did the only thing he knew how to do. Violence.

From nowhere, Aijun took a swing at the sergeants cheek, and landed a solid punch.

“Stop it. Stop it. We’ve heard it all before, don’t overreact.” Finn grumbled as he pulled Aijun off Adrik. Aijun looked like he wanted nothing more than to kill Adrik but he stopped fighting against him.

“Shouldn’t we catch up with Arve?” Emma wondered aloud. Aijun gave her a look that said, ‘he’s your kid isn’t he’, but stayed quiet. Emma and Finn already explained that Arve wasn’t going to listen to them.

“No need. I’m sure he’ll find us when he’s ready. I think the sergeant really got to him this time. Arve left the comment about his age go without a word. Sure, he was about to jump over the table and strangle him, but that was different than his regular behavior too.” Finn mentioned. Finn seemed to always know more about a person than was reasonably possible.

“Well I’ve got a bit of change on me. I didn’t want to spend it yet, but it isn’t really Arve’s fault that the loading plank fell into the water. He was busy fighting off those guys and you were still unconscious…” Emma acknowledged that it was probably her fault for forgetting about the loading plank. Sailing had never been her strong suit.

“We can go see what we can find, but it isn’t your fault, and Arve isn’t blaming anyone. Come on,” Finn smiled gently. Aijun stood up with Emma, and that forced Adrik onto his feet.

Smiling brightly, Aijun followed Emma and Finn out the door.

“You can’t come with, you are handcuffed to a sergeant!” Emma scolded Aijun. Aijun shrugged his shoulders.

“We’ll pretend to be runaway elopers who don’t want to risk being separated.” Adrik groused at Aijun’s words.

Emma shrugged her shoulders and walked faster to catch up with Finn. Aijun grinned at Adrik. Within his own mind, he could feel Jonathan sleeping. A smooth rhythmic breathing fell over him. There had never been a feeling like it. The sun was rising over the sand dunes that surrounded the city, and the wind brought the ocean salt smell into his nose. He was finally at peace, and the man walking beside him was somehow making it all the better.

“I know who you really are. I know that you’re-” Aijun smacked his hand over Adrik’s mouth.

“I’m just a man who came for Meolin’s well-known prostitute industry. Nothing more.” Aijun said matter-of-factly. He didn’t want these people to find out who he really was. Or what he really did. Honestly, he didn’t even want Jonathan to know what he did for a living. The boy was too cautious and would panic if he knew.

“Ridiculous. Why am I even listening to you cursed demons?”

“Eventually you’ll see it our way. We’ve got all the time in the world.” Aijun laughed carelessly. He felt Jonathan move closer to the front. He was listening in on their conversation, but trying to be stealthy about it.

“Not if you’re the person I think you are. You don’t have much time at all.”

***

Arve found the job he wanted, and set to it. He needed a special medicine only a warlock could make. A warlock like the one Aijun was running from.

He could trek all the way back up the sand mountain where he knew the warlock would be, or figure out where all of the ingredients were. Arve was still confident in his magic abilities, even if he tried never to use them.

With his belly full, and his mind clear, Arve set off to the small medicinal shop in Meolin. Johna’s payment would be just enough to buy the ingredients he needed.

The shop smelled of peppermint oils and sand dusting. Arve picked up a vial of basil leaves, and a bottle of water from Florina. Florina had strange water that did strange things when mixed with magic. Arve picked up a piece of Oak bark and a string of acorn beads on his way up to the counter.

“Do you have money to pay for all this?” The man in the apron asked. He was taller than most in this small village. Arve threw up the sack of coins Johna had just given him, and the tall man caught it.

“It’s just enough, keep the change.” Arve lied. He couldn’t afford the Florina imported water, but the man wouldn’t mind. The coins were Carnillian, which made them higher in value these days. If the man waited long enough, the coin’s value would skyrocket because of Carnil’s growing economic trades.

Arve carried the ingredients to an alleyway behind the sandstone buildings and laid them out in a circle. He started by grinding up the acorn beads with a rock and putting them into the container of Florina water. He spoke words in the ancient magic language, and started picking the stems off the basil leaves.

The water began to flow and ebb as the magic took control. Arve’s eyes were glowing and he felt the clock strike noon as his body began to change. He knew this was dangerous. He knew that Arven would never risk it, but he was hungry and desperate. Emma and Finn must have been hungry too.

If he gave them food… maybe they wouldn’t leave him.

Taking the magic that fueled his curse, Arve redirected it toward his concoction. If Arve were better practiced, he wouldn’t need the outside magic boost. Time and a lack of education in Magical Arts did that to a person though.

When the magic of noon passed, the potion was finished, and Arve was huddled in a street corner vomiting.

It wasn’t the magic that hurt, but the fact that he was staying in this form for another twenty four hours. The magic it required to stay this way was far more than he was able to produce at once. It was exhausting for his body to refuse the switch.

Grabbing the potion, he limped back into town. Finding the woman who needed this medication would be easy. He was just there earlier. The walk on the sand road was up a hill and crowded with the village people bustling around during market hours.

“Arve? What… it’s got to be after mid-sun, right?” Emma was in front of him. She was gripping Arve’s shoulders like a worried mother would. It was the only thing that made him aware that Emma was there. His eyes barely registered her figure in front of him. Her voice cut through his murky brain.

“Give this to the lady. Get paid. You must be hungry…” Arve handed her the bottle and fell over. Finn caught him and slung the boy’s body over his shoulder. Finn shook his head angrily. Honestly, what could he have done now?

“I don’t understand. Who do I give this to?” Emma held the bottle of swirling blue liquid. It glowed and Emma could hear a small song being hummed like magic from the bottle itself. She held it close to her ear, but couldn’t make out the words.

Aijun held a whisper in his ear. No. It was from his own head. He would have to get used to that.

“What?” He said aloud. He and the sergeant were still standing there, watching Finn, Emma, and Arve. The bottle Emma was holding made Jonathan do a double take with AIjun’s eyes.

“That’s a Desert Death cure!” Jonathan said from AIjun’s mouth. Aijun hated when Jonathan did that with no warning at all. The sergeant jumped back, but accidentally pulled Jonathan with him. Jonathan was a kid. A very clumsy kid. He stumbled in Aijun’s body and landed in a not so great position on top of the sergeant.

“Oh, oh no I didn’t mean- I’m so sorry-” Jonathan bumbled as he struggled to get a hold on his footing. Adrik was doing his best to get him off as well, which made it twice as hard to untangle the chain on their wrists. Jonathan was already dying of embarrassment. 

“What did you say, Aijun?” Emma asked when Jonathan stood up. Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck and bit his bottom lip. Adrik angrily brushed himself off with his left hand.

“Its- its a disease my mom has. It’s called Desert Death.” Jonathan explained. Emma gave him a strange look but turned back to Finn. She told him that Arve must have meant to take it back to Jonathan’s mother.

Desert Death was slow acting. It took years for it to kill someone, but most opted to die before that to end the pain. It would start with small things like flexibility, and energy, and then would slowly shut down muscles, arteries, and organs. The lungs would stop working long before the heart would give out, which makes the disease a true nightmare.

“You shouldn’t help this demon’s mother! Please, I’ll kill it myself, there is no need to worry-”

AIjun snapped back into his own consciousness and did the thing Jonathan wouldn’t have. He shoved Adrik into an alley and held him by his neck against the wall. With Emma, Finn and Jonathan as witnesses, Aijun said the one thing he shouldn’t have.

“Killing you would be the easiest mark I’ve ever had the pleasure of taking,” Aijun slipped a knife out of Adrik’s leg holster, and held it to his throat.

“Aijun, no!” Jonathan screamed. He took control of Aijun’s body and forced him to move back with that special werewolf strength.

Standing there, in the middle of the alleyway, Jonathan started to change.