Cold

Chapter Eleven: The forest of Blood

Variel froze as Kai spoke three words that threatened to break his heart until it was nothing more than a mere whisper in the wind.
"You already have." Kai stared at Variel as he grabbed Variel's hand. Their blood mixed, and Variel felt Kai sing through his veins. It wasn't Kai himself, but his essence. It was as if he added another voice in his mind, but this one was calming and assuring.

Kai clenched Variel's hand and he felt Variel roar through his blood. It wasn't Variel himself, but his being. It was as if he let a wild wolf into his mind, one that begged to be set free, but demanded to be trained. Kai clenched his jaw and looked Variel in the eyes. Variel met his gaze, and Kai felt a fragment of who Variel was. He felt Lillian's smile, her laugh and her quirky sense of nature. He saw Three's silent gaze staring back at him, determined to make it out alive, no matter the cost. He heard Lucifer's drawl as he assured Kai that they weren't going to lose, and he could taste the wilderness that was Variel.
"You ready Angel?" Variel asked, blinking. The bond wasn't broken, but it was pushed to the back of their minds so that they could focus. Kai nodded.
"Ready when you are, Princling." He smirked.
"What happened to being original?" Variel asked, drawing a sword.
"You were calling me a prince. You are a prince of darkness." Kai said. "And still, I will be there to make sure that it doesn't all fade into nothing." Variel smiled, and Kai returned it.

"Let's show these mother fuckers what we're made of." Variel grinned. Kai laughed, and when Mayan forces burst through the tavern's back door, they were ready.

Kai and Variel had worked out a dance that they knew the steps to without ever speaking. Kai would disarm and distract. Variel will kill. If Variel was busy, Kai would knock them out, and that was also good, however that took more time than Variel's simple cut and slash.

Variel would concentrate, and as long as he did that, it seemed to work. What wasn't helping was the fact that he couldn't seem to shake the look on his face when Kai realized he couldn't even remember the number of lives he stole from this world. He wanted to pull out his hair, wanted to scream that he wasn't a total monster, but he knew that he was. Trying to deny it would have no positive outcomes. Better to stain his soul than Kai's by splitting the weight of the sin.

The guards seemed to keep pouring from inside the tavern,but when at last hundreds of men and woman died down to sixty, then forty, then ten, Variel sighed softly. Kai fought hard and honorably, while Variel had more blood on his hands. He managed to keep the jacket Paige had made clean though, so things must still be okay. He almost wanted to chuckle to himself as his blade clashed with the next opponents face. When the guards at last seemed to dwindle down to a handful every five minutes or so, Variel suspected their time for running had come. He exchanged a look with Kai, who gave Variel a mischievous smile that somehow brought out the red in his eyes. It reminded Variel of a glow with the embers of a dragon's breath in Kai's eyes. 
"You ready Honey boy?" Variel called, grinning and showing his sharp canines.
"How did you know that?" Kai asked, surprised. Variel shrugged.

"Beats me, but you look good today!" He winked. Surprisingly the compliment wasn't so hard for him to say. Kai did look good today in a suit of white and gold. Variel thought he saw that suit before, and then it hit him. He owned an identical suit made of black and red. The very one he was wearing today. Kai smiled at Variel, and he felt as if his heart melted in his chest.
"You coming?" Kai asked, winking. Somehow, in the moment that Variel had zoned out, Kai had summoned wings and started to hover. Variel smirked.
"Don't think you can leave me behind that easily!" He called, taking off towards Kai. Kai smiled and wrapped Variel in a hug as he took to the sky, flying off towards the blood forest, the sunset washing over them as Kai flew them to safety.

Kai landed with Variel still wrapped in his arms, and Variel unstuck himself from Kai immediately, running over to a tree to puke his guts up. His six foot ass hated flying apparently, but no one had thought to tell him that.
"You okay Princling?" Kai asked, concerned.
"Yup!" Variel said, bending over. "Just fantastic!"
"You sure about that?" Kai asked again, concerned.
"Yup! Doing just fine!" Variel called, coughing. Kai walked up behind him and tapped his neck.
"I can feel what you feel, you moron." He laughed softly. "Why didn't you tell me that flying made you sick?"
"I didn't know." Variel said, shrugging. "And I supposed It was more romantic than running?"
"You are such a lovable idiot sometimes." Kai smiled.
"That reminds me, why didn't you mention you had dope ass wings?" Variel asked.