Incubus [malexmale]

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen (Alexius)

I'd never in my life experienced such agony.

My arms were now numb, occasionally throbbing as a servant bound them in white gauze before resting them on packs of ice. I laid in my bed, surrounded by the silks of the canopy bed and the softness of the blankets beneath me. However, even that comfort wasn't enough to sooth my pain. My cheek burned from where I had been cut and my arms bandaged up to my shoulders.

My head also ached something awful. I could remember the feeling of something snapping inside me, but the servants who'd come in told me that my head was just fine, save for the cut in my cheek.

And then there was the fact that Kith was no longer in existence. The realm had imploded just moments after Killian and I teleported out and back to Ivacha. My heart ached for the realm that had simply given up, spending its final hours weeping over the corpses that it swallowed in finality. I sighed, tilting my head back to stare up at the ceiling when I heard voices outside my tent. I frowned instantly and looked toward the opening as the flap came open and Ana came in first.

"General Alexius, General Killian and General Arachnae are here for you." She informed. I nodded and relaxed back on the bed as Ana went outside, allowing the other two generals to enter. Killian came in, his black hair in a loose ponytail over his shoulder. He was bandaged in a few places, but otherwise, seemed fine. Beside him, Arachnae had his head wrapped in bandages, a gauze pad over his left eye and his arm in a sling. Apparently, he'd just barely teleported out before the realm fell apart.

"Glad you're awake," Arachnae greeted cheerily, something that never ceased to amaze me considering we almost died, "We decided to come and bother you a bit. How're the arms?" Killian glanced at him, then at me expectantly. Part of me wanted to tell them to leave me alone, that I'd had enough excitement for a while, but I found myself answering anyway.

"Fine. Still a bit numb. I should be able to move them in a few hours." I responded quietly, making Killian sigh in relief as he came closer to the bed. Arachnae followed him with a chuckle as he leaned on the post of my bed to look down at me.

"Quite a rough ride for the first battle, aye? Good job out there. You did better than most of us. Half our men ran around in circles, like chickens with their heads cut off." He pointed out. Killian gave him a dry stare, his arms folded over his chest.

"Most of them really did have their heads cut off, Arachnae."

"Aye, but that's no reason to panick."

"Of course not," Killian replied, to which Arachnae laughed loudly, then Killian looked down at me in concern, "Are you sure your arms are all right? You held off a Croz. Those things are extremely powerful. Had you been anyone else, it would've crushed you into the earth." I glanced at him, but only responded with a nod. The scene from before kept playing over and over in my mind, making it damn near impossible to forget.

Why had I done that in the first place? Why did I save Killian? He was just another soldier here. He had nothing to do with me or what I wanted. I didn't care about him... And he didn't care about me. Even if he did save my life. At the same time, I kept asking myself why? Why did I save his life and why did he bother with mine? I knew I made him angry on occasion, and yet, he risked drowning to bring me back. Was it just him returning the favor for me having saved him? He shouldn't have bothered, really.

"Are you all right?" Killian asked, making me blink and come back from my thoughts. I looked up at him, then nodded again. Arachnae chuckled and plopped on the bed beside me, making me stiffen a little until Killian did the same.

There I go, again. Relaxing whenever he was around. I did not like it. Was this the trust that people always had in each other when they were friends? Even so, I didn't like it. The only time I had trusted someone, he pushed me away and told me I was an abomination-- and he was my own guardian.