Rage is a powerful feeling, it knotted your inside, and flared your desire, making all feelings succumb to the burning madness.
The elf, Justus, I trusted him, fucked him, gave him my all, and damn if I now feel like the stupidest male alive.
*****
The morning started peacefully, I woke up with Basilea by my side and went on to spend the rest of the morning with Bharat. He was my best candidate to replace Titus, then the rest of the rank will follow and Justus will move up when he finishes his training. The thought of him made me notice that he was not in training.
“Where’s Justus?” I asked Bharat when I saw that he was not among our soldiers. He should be training, but he was not there. I ignored the nagging feeling about his absence and waited for Bharat to explain.
“He told me that you had an assignment for him.” The general was puzzled when he found out that I didn’t, in fact, I was also looking for the elf.
“Find him,” I ordered when my gut told me that the lie was a bit too worrying for my liking. He had been absent a few times more than I’d like, he would fly under the radar if he was just my harem but the thought that he joined my army and I had hopes for him made the lies simmer under my skin, my anger rests on the brim of my annoyance.
My gut also told me to continue walking to the dragon enclosure and checked on Basilea. I paced my steps faster and my heart started slipping to an uneasy beat when I couldn’t find Basilea there. “Fuck.” I cursed when my mind started piecing together information that I didn’t want to acknowledge.
“King Armand,”
“No,” I know there was something wrong the second I saw Magnus beside Bharat and his lovers standing behind them.
“Can we talk privately?” Magnus asked softly, I recognized the tone of his voice, he caressed me with such softness the day he left me. No good news comes with it, and I didn’t say anything, instead, I nodded and let him walk by my side through the hallways and into the empty room where I usually held meetings with my generals. Magnus knew the room very well, he’d been here numerous times with others.
“My King, we came here as soon as we heard. Basilea was taken, it was the elf, Justus.”
Magnus couldn’t phrase the words in such deadly strains that I was rendered speechless. “I… I was still looking for both of them, fuck,” I steadied myself but my knees were suddenly wobbly from too much anger.
“Go get Bharat, he needs to hear this. Damn it, Magnus,” I cursed and paced back and forth in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The wretched feeling inside got me reckless, like I needed to punch something but I took a deep breath instead and try to calm myself down. I am King Armand and I do not act on impulse, not when I’m being fooled by my closest one. Again. Goddamn it!
“My King,” Bharat entered the room with Magnus behind him.
“I’ve sent men for a quick search of Justus and Basilea within our perimeter, we will hear from them soon.”
I nodded, knowing they wouldn’t find them, not when Magnus was present, not when if what he was saying was true. “Magnus, explain what you know of the situation and how long are you here for?”
“King Armand, I owe you my life, I am devoted though I am not living under your reign. So, I will stay as long as you need me and I will help in any way I can.” His words were firm, and Bharat nodded his agreement and then start to listen as Magnus tell us how the information came to their front door.
“We have a general idea where they might be hiding, I’d say it’s best to send a scout to learn what we are truly up against. I understand that Basilea is the heir of the concubi demon, if she’s a royal then the recent turmoil within the elven kingdoms might trigger her abduction.”
“Your knowledge of recent disputes pleased me, thank you.”
“Well, Gerold was taking us realm-hopping, we met beings from all over the regions, we talked, and obviously gossiped. And I did ask Gerold to keep an eye on the crawlers, you know, just in case,” he shrugged and I put my hand on his shoulder, once again thanking him for his consideration in doing so.
He talked more about the said elven conspiracy, about their king, and how Justus was actually their respected general who lost his mate when the war between the elven kingdom and the concubi demon erupted.
We stayed talking until Bharat received the report that Justus and Basilea were not on the kingdom’s premises. I know I’ve predicted it already but still the need to take back my little demon was strong. Too strong.
“Send the scouts, we will leave tomorrow. I will not leave her in their captive long enough for her to suffer.” My voice was calm and stern, it contradicts what I was feeling on the inside.
“King Armand, with your permission I would like to join your flight.”
“Thank you, I will be forever grateful.”
He nodded and dismissed himself when I told Bharat to show him and his guests to the guest chamber.
When the next day came around, my flights were ready, my generals had gathered their soldiers and I saw Magnus among them with borrowed armor and weapons. Gerold and Savaric watched from the sideline and I gave them my greetings before I took my stand in front of my army.
Last night Bharat gave me a report on the scout, and the location was confirmed. The crawlers were there, also Justus and another elf. It was a makeshift den since we destroyed the last one. Basilea was there, she was caged but alive. My wings itched to flap, to find her and bring her back to my side.
Since the objective was to bring her back, we decided to eradicate the crawlers, kill the elves and go back. As simple as that. The troops were divided into flights and soldiers, we will attack both from the sky and the ground, leaving none alive.
The second I was in the air Bharat led his flight to my left, Obi with his flight to my right, and Osirus led the troops on the ground. The formation was solid, I saw Magnus behind general Bharat. The male blend in perfectly like he never left.
We were ready to strike when we saw chaos as we were nearing the intended location. There were flights of demons, wings flapping, bashing crawlers, lunging in from the sky with such lethal precision that made me signal all flights to follow my speed.
I thought the concubi demon was torn and banished into hiding. But the number of demons we witnessed shows great strength of power. There were many, by the hundreds, we didn’t even bring that much since we knew their numbers from our scouts the night before.
The second they saw us we were faced with their war stance. Their flights took into formation while half of them plunged fearlessly into the small cavernous hideout. Osirus was stunned from his location on the ground, he was faced with crawlers fighting for their life before the army headed by him even reached the designated location.
What in the name of hell are we walking into?