The Hunters of Sian

Shell Shock

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Chapter Fourteen

Shell Shock

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Nell had half expected to wake up alone. When he sluggishly opened his eyes though, he could see the arm draped over his waist and felt the hard body behind him. His cheeks grew hot at the memory of what had happened the night before. Partly from arousal, partly in shame. He had cum so quickly. He hadn't even repaid Sallos. The man had just held him, rocking him.

'You'll be late for your first class if you don't move,' Sallos murmured, his voice a little rough with sleep. Nell sat up and peaked over his shoulder.

'I'm sorry I didn't... yesterday, I mean, you didn't...' He broke off, his cheeks getting hotter.

Sallos let out a quiet sound that could have almost been a chuckle. 'It is fine. You did what I asked.' Sallos sat up, the sheet falling to his waist. Nell was given a long moment to stare.

'Come.' His master swung his legs off the bed and stood up. Nell sighed and stretched before grabbing his shorts for swimming class. They parted at the corridor, Sallos turning left and Nell turning right for the stairs.

He had completely forgotten about the mark his master had given him on his throat until swimming practice. He remembered quickly enough when Jeremy's eyes had practically popped out as he had stared at it. With a jolt of horror, Nell slapped a hand over what he knew was a very obvious bruise in his neck. Denzel had arrived at the same time as Cadric and had not had the chance to comment.

Nell could feel Denzel behind him as he had practically raced for the breakfast hall, but the older boy was foiled an opportunity as Nell nearly collided with Sallos in the entryway.

'You have a writing task to finish, yes?' The massive ebony horns glinted in the hot sunlight. Denzel slunk in beside them without a word, clearly not stupid enough to start something with the massive demon so close. Nell nodded, fighting a grin. He and his master collected breakfast and sat off to one side to go through Nell's homework.

He tried to keep his head down and ignore the sniggers he could here somewhere behind him. He jumped slightly when he felt something brush his leg. He settled when he realised it was Sallos' tail.

'Are you listening?' Sallos murmured, his quiet voice laced with amusement. Nell felt his cheeks heat.

'Sorry,' he muttered and tried to focus back on his homework. Furcus and Jeremy came over not long after. Furcus was sipping from mug. The smell of hard strong coffee itched Nell's nose.

'Well. Best be off you two,' the old hunter grunted. Sallos nodded in agreement as he stood. Nell copied and packed his things away into his bag. Jeremy was grinning.

'Furcus likes my idea for my weapon choice,' Jeremy said excitedly as the two demons moved off to one of the numerous side corridors. The two apprentices headed for the stairs that would take them to the tower classroom for botany.

They reached the top of the stairs, footsteps behind indicating they weren't alone. To his and Jeremy's surprise both Cadric and Arabella were waiting for them in the tower room. The apprentices all filed in and took their seats.

'As you all know, your exams are coming up. The king has allocated regions and target for his Hunters. What this means is that your masters now know what will and won't be needed for your survival next year. Now that you have spent your first few months learning the basics, your masters will be requesting that you each learn more specific aspects of each class,' Cadric announced to the stunned silence of the class. This wasn't news to Nell as he had known almost since the start of his apprenticeship where Sallos was going.