Aric nodded, a knot of anxiety tightening in his chest. “What do we do?”
Malekith’s gaze softened slightly as he looked at Aric. “We do what we’ve been doing. We stay one step ahead. We watch each other’s backs. And we trust no one but ourselves.”
Aric stood rigid as Malekith’s claws traced his jawline, the demon’s touch sending shivers over his flesh. The night’s events bore down on him, the clash of emotions reflected in his stormy gray-blue eyes. Facing his people as their enemy had been agonizing, and he felt their accusing stares crawling over his skin even now.
“It couldn’t have been easy,” Malekith murmured, his voice a low hum as he drew Aric closer. “To see them, to know . . .” He trailed off, his gaze softening with understanding.
Aric’s throat tightened with unshed tears. “I just want to forget,” he rasped, his voice ragged with exhaustion and pent-up emotion. “If only for a little while.”
Malekith’s expression was unreadable, his dark eyes holding a myriad of secrets. “I can help you with that,” he said.
Aric’s breath hitched as Malekith began to undress him, his movements slow and deliberate. The demon’s touch was gentle, nothing like the endless cruelty and savagery of the battlefield. Each caress was a whisper against Aric’s skin, sending shivers of desire through him.
As Malekith kissed the newly exposed skin, Aric closed his eyes, surrendering to the sensations. The demon’s lips were soft and insistent, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. He felt himself being gently guided backward, until the backs of his legs hit the edge of the camp bed. With a gentle push, Malekith urged him to sit, and Aric complied, his body boneless with desire.
Malekith continued his slow seduction, undressing Aric with deliberate care. He kissed each inch of exposed skin, his lips and tongue a source of pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. Aric’s breath quickened, his heart pounding in his chest as he arched into the demon’s touch.
When Aric was completely naked, Malekith paused, taking in the sight of him with dark, smoldering eyes. Then, with a gentle hand, he guided Aric back onto the bed, following him down. Their bodies aligned, skin against skin, and Aric shuddered as he felt the full length of Malekith pressed against him.
Malekith’s hands roamed, possessive and reverent, as if committing every inch of Aric to memory. His lips found Aric’s, their kiss deep and passionate. Aric tasted the heady mix of desire and something akin to desperation, a need that mirrored his own.
As their kisses grew more fevered, Aric’s hands fisted in Malekith’s hair, pulling him closer. He wanted to lose himself in this moment, to forget the horrors of the day and the uncertainty of the future. He wanted to feel alive, to burn with a passion that could consume the darkness that threatened to engulf him.
And Malekith was more than willing to provide the flame. His mouth trailed down Aric’s neck, his teeth nipping gently at the sensitive skin. His hands roamed, exploring every curve and plane of Aric’s body with a tenderness that belied his fearsome reputation.
Aric’s breath caught as Malekith’s lips closed around a nipple, his tongue swirling in lazy circles. He moaned, his head falling back as pleasure shot through him. Malekith’s name escaped his lips in a hoarse whisper, a plea for more.
The demon chuckled, the vibrations tickling Aric’s sensitized skin. “Patience, my love,” he murmured, his hot breath fanning across Aric’s chest. “I intend to take my time with you.”
Aric whimpered, his body thrumming with need. “Please,” he begged, his voice thick with desire. “I need you.”
Malekith’s eyes darkened, his pupils dilating with hunger. “As I need you,” he growled, his voice dropping an octave.
As Malekith penetrated Aric, he moved with a deliberate slowness, his every action designed to heighten Aric’s pleasure, plunging into him in slow, assured thrusts of his hips. He kissed Aric’s face tenderly, his lips brushing against the other man’s eyelids, cheeks, and mouth. His hands roamed Aric’s body, caressing him with a gentleness that belied the fierce passion simmering between them.
Aric moaned, his body arching into Malekith’s touch. The demon’s measured pace was driving him wild with desire, and he found himself begging for more. “Fuck me harder,” he pleaded, his voice hoarse with need.
Malekith smiled, his dark eyes filled with a mixture of desire and tenderness. He complied with Aric’s request, thrusting into him with increasing intensity. At the same time, he reached down and wrapped his hand around Aric’s cock, stroking it in time with his thrusts.
Aric cried out, overwhelmed by the sensations coursing through him. The combination of Malekith’s deep, powerful thrusts and the firm grip on his cock was too much to bear. He felt himself teetering on the edge of release, desperate to fall over the precipice.
Malekith seemed to sense this, and he increased his pace even more, driving into Aric with a primal ferocity that sent shockwaves of pleasure through him. Aric’s fingers dug into Malekith’s shoulders as he felt his orgasm building, coiling tightly within him.
With a final powerful thrust, Malekith pushed them both over the edge. Aric cried out as his release surged through him, his entire body shuddering with the intensity of it. Malekith growled, his own climax overtaking him as he spilled himself within Aric.
As their breathing slowed and their hearts stopped pounding in their chests, they remained intertwined, their bodies still joined. Aric felt a wave of contentment wash over him, and for a brief moment, he let himself drift.
“My little mage,” Malekith murmured. “My golden rays.”
Aric’s smile was watery, but his answered with all the resolve he could muster: “I am all yours.”
Six
When the first dark shapes of the town appeared at the base of the hill, Aric had to force himself to believe they were real. It was like a nightmare, made flesh and blood and bone, marching in lockstep with the pounding of his heart. He moved like a ghost of himself as the army surged forward, the ground trembling beneath their feet, the air thick with the cloying stench of brimstone and the harsh cries of a thousand demons as they led their renewed assault. Malekith stood at the front of the vanguard, his black hair billowing around him, his horns stark, and his eyes fixed on the valley below. Aric’s feet moved him forward, carrying him up the hill to stand beside his prince.
“Drindal,” Aric whispered, and felt the world tilt and spin. The last time he’d seen the human town, it had been from the opposite side of the valley, the demons repelled, the wards holding strong. He’d spent many summers in Drindal as a young apprentice, training in the Silver Tower’s outpost and exploring the town’s winding streets with Olaya, his mentor. They would spend their days poring over dusty tomes in the tower’s library and practicing spells in the open courtyards, and in the evenings, they would walk along the cliffs, watching the sun set as the waves crashed far below, or enjoying the famed hot springs that made Drindal so cherished. It seemed a lifetime ago, a dream he’d had as a different person.
He picked out the landmarks with a sharp pang of nostalgia—the ancient stone walls, the domed temples that housed the town’s many gods, the garrison of the Silver Tower perched high on the cliffs by the springs, its white banners snapping in the wind. Aric’s eyes lingered there, a dull ache settling in his chest. He could almost see the tower’s mages training in the courtyard, the way he and Olaya would join them, their faces upturned to the sun as they practiced their spells. But the courtyard was empty now, the mages gone, called to defend the town’s borders.
“Malekith! My lord!” Vizra appeared at his side, her skin gleaming with the blood-red light of battle. “We must strike at the wards now, while they’re still reeling from last night’s assault. Let me lead the vanguard and we can shatter their defenses.”
Malekith’s gaze never wavered from the valley below. “Hold the line,” he said, tone brooking no argument. “The humans will be expecting a head-on assault. We will give them something else.”
“But we must press the advantage while we have it—”
“And I say we must hold back the knowledge that we can dismantle their wards until the very last moment,” Malekith said, his face an impassive mask as he surveyed the town below. “It is the greatest surprise we have on our side. Disclosing it too soon or launch a rash assault could cost us dearly.”
Aric’s heart quickened at the opening Vizra’s outburst had provided, and he pushed his way to the front of the war council. “If I may, my lord.” Aric swallowed, the taste of the city’s fear sour on his tongue. “I have some knowledge of the city’s defenses.”
Malekith turned to him, his dark eyes glinting. Aric’s heart stuttered, but he made himself meet his gaze, to look beyond the mask of the demon prince, searching for a hint, a trace of what lay beneath. But all he found was that same enigmatic face, giving nothing away.
“Well?” Malekith’s eyebrow arched. “What can you tell us?”
Aric turned to face the city, the memories of his time there slotting into place like the pieces of an intricate spell. “The town is protected by a series of defenses, but they are not insurmountable.”
He wove a tapestry of half-truths and exaggerations, emphasizing the strength of certain fortifications while downplaying vulnerabilities. Malekith listened intently, eyes darting between Aric and the city, while Vizra’s frustration simmered visibly. Aric’s mind raced as he spoke, calculating the best angle of approach, the most vulnerable points to target, then throwing his suggestions just a little off-target to keep the demons on the back foot. He had never been a military strategist, but his time in the demon court had taught him the value of deception and misdirection.
And as the town drew closer, he knew he had one last chance to put those lessons to use.
Dawn was a slow seep of blood over the horizon, staining the sky as the demon army gathered in the valley below. The humans were ready for them after the previous night. As ready as they could be after suffering losses; their remaining ranks bristled with spears and fluttered with bright silk banners. The town’s mages wove their spells in the air, a shimmering net of magic ready to ensnare any who attempted to breach their walls, while the griffin riders, the few who hadn’t been ravaged by Karthax’s winged hordes, made slow, cautious scouting laps in the dawn.
Malekith’s strategy was cautious, methodical. He sent his forces forward in waves, testing the strength of the human defenses, probing for weaknesses. It was slow going, the battle devolving into a brutal siege as the demons struggled to gain a foothold.
“Patience, Aric,” Malekith said, as Aric fidgeted at the back of House Ixion’s ranks, his mind racing with thoughts of what lay beyond the city’s walls. “We must wait for the right opportunity.”
Aric nodded, but he could feel the restless energy of the demon army all around them. They were hungry for battle, for the taste of victory after so many long years of war. It was a living thing, that hunger, a dark, writhing mass that threatened to consume them all.
Vizra prowled back and forth, her impatience palpable. She shot furtive glances at Aric, no doubt still smarting from her humiliation in the mountains, but for now, she held her tongue. There was battle lust in her eyes, the same hunger that was gnawing at Aric’s own insides, though his was for a stalemate as much as hers was for a swift victory.
And then, as the sun climbed higher in the sky and Karthax’s strike force darted in behind the vanguard, the wards around the city began to falter.
It started as a low, keening wail, like the wind being torn to shreds. The mages on the walls scrambled to reinforce the barriers, but it was too late. With a blinding flash of light, the wards shattered, and the human town lay open before them.
“My agents have done their work,” Vizra said, a hungry smile on her face. “This will make a fine test to see how true your human pet’s words are, Malekith.”
“This town hardly seems worth wasting the element of surprise on,” Malekith said, but there was a glint in his eye that Aric didn’t like. “But so be it. If any humans are left alive in our assault, they will spread the word that the wards are fallible. So we cannot leave any survivors.”
