Branded

by Ana J. Phoenix

  “Mhm… get laid,” Asher said, giving José the answer he had expected before he leaned up to kiss him, putting a hand on his chin and running a tongue over his lips. José responded without hesitation. He wasn’t sure how things would turn out, what he’d want to do about Asher back in their world, but he was very sure what he wanted to do to him right then.

  Everything else, he would worry about another time.

  Chapter 19 - Crossing that Bridge

  Asher almost dozed off on his watch, but then he heard something. He wasn’t sure what, though. Their camp fire had almost burned down. Asher looked around in the darkness and listened, but the forest was as quiet as any forest could be at night. A twig broke to his right and Asher tensed. Sitting up he turned to face that direction. A dark figure emerged from the trees.

  “Who's there?”

  “Shh,” the stranger said, putting a finger over his own lips as he stepped onto the clearing. “It’s just me.”

  “Fangs?” Asher narrowed his eyes. “What the hell were you doing there? Were you watching?”

  Fangs shot him a blank look. “Watching what? I was only passing by, saw you, and thought I’d impart a word of advice.”

  Yeah, right.

  “It’s late. Come back tomorrow.” That said, Asher lay back down and rolled onto his side, facing away from the pseudo vampire who didn’t keep to normal visiting hours.

  “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

  “You heard him,” Blind Guy spoke up. Asher blinked. He hated never being able to tell whether José was awake or not. “He doesn’t wanna talk to you.”

  Fangs sighed, but didn’t walk away. Why the hell did he insist on talking to them in the middle of the night? “It’s not going to take long,” he said. “I’m only here to give you a word of warning.”

  “What would that be?” Asher said, looking back at Fangs over his shoulder. “Use protection?”

  “I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Fangs said, “but you should always use all the protection you can get. I’m not here to tell you that though.” He took a step closer toward them and his eyes narrowed on Asher. “What’s that on your shoulder?”

  Asher covered his tattoo with his hand.

  “Get lost,” Blind Guy said, “We don’t need your advice.”

  “There is no need for you to be so hostile.”

  “Yeah? Tell me, what did you do in that village where we met you? Where half the population died?”

  “I was passing through.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure that’s all you did.”

  Fangs remained silent for a second. Asher let his gaze wander between him and Blind Guy, who had sat up. “You’re implying that I’m responsible for their demise?” the vampire asked.

  “Let’s say I don’t trust you very much.”

  “You may want to reconsider who you trust,” Fangs said, sounding bitter. His eyes glanced to the side and into the forest as though he was thinking of something else. He shook his head and redirected his gaze at them. “Let me ask you one last thing. Are you really from a different world?”

  “Yeah, really. Ours is a lot better, too,” Asher said. “Can we go back to sleep now?” He didn’t care whether Fangs had had anything to do with the death of the army penguins. He cared about his own life, of course, but if Fangs had wanted to kill him, he’d be dead by now.

  “Right, I should be going,” Fangs said, turning around. “I’m certain we’ll meet again.”

  “Totally looking forward to it,” José said as Fangs walked away. “What was that all about…” he muttered when he was gone, still not lying back down. Asher replied with a yawn.

  “Who cares?”

  ***

  The village they reached later the next day might have been described as peaceful, scenic or even lovely— by other people. The only thought that came to Asher’s mind was fucking lame.

  The laughter of children filled the air as Blind Guy and he walked through the streets, past small huts and houses that smelled like pie and freshly baked bread. The only thing missing from the perfect picture was a rainbow in the sky and unicorns galloping through the roads.

  “Give me a break…” Asher muttered, listening to two women discuss what a lovely day it was.

  “What?” José asked.

  “This place is so perfect, it’s creepy.”

  “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

  “There’s only women and children here and… Oh God, does that kid have three eyes?” A lot of villagers looked weird, now that he thought about it. Asher had gotten used to a lot of things, but people with dog tails and goat feet all in one were new even to him.

  “C’mon, don’t go insulting the villagers now.”

  Asher rolled his eyes, but kept walking, following Blind Guy and the lavalight. As they trudged on, a large fortress rose up in their view above the roofs of the other huts. Made of dark stone and lined up in front of a mountain range, it looked a lot more impressive than the rest of the village. A place like that would be hard to set aflame, and would take forever to burn out.

  “That building looks depressing,” Asher said as they drew closer, eying the bars in front of the windows. Blue light radiated over the whole building, emanating from a high tower to the side. “But those sparks are pretty.”

  As they approached, two guards denied them entry. They were the first men Asher spotted around here, but they weren’t worth a second look. It was as if this place had a law against being pretty. Asher sighed as one of the uglies retreated into the fortress.

  “Lavalight says we gotta wait a second,” José said. The little bitch fluttered away from him and vanished inside.

  “What, does the old man have to hide his dirty underwear before we can go in?”

  “Asher…”

  “What?”

  “Just wait.”

  ***

  Their steps echoed off the thick stone walls as a guard led them through the building. Asher rubbed his arms. What he wouldn’t have given for a nice hot fire. The dark fortress seemed to eat up all the warmth of the sun. Asher grabbed one of the torches that hung on the walls and waved it around in front of him.

  “Put that back,” José said beside him.

  “No,” Asher said. “Their fault for not having proper heating and lighting.”

  José didn’t try arguing and Asher considered himself victorious—until the fire just went out. “Bastard!” He glared at Blind Guy.

  “Must have been the wind.”

  Asher narrowed his eyes at him. “Yeah, sure.” He threw the dead piece of wood into a corner where it landed with a clonking sound. As they walked on, Asher almost regretted not hitting Blind Guy with that stick.

  “Are we there yet?” he asked after they had been passing through empty hallways for what seemed like forever. This place bored him even more than the libraries back home had. Except for the torches, anyway. Those were cool.

  The guard cleared his throat. “Just a second. The general is going to receive you outside in the gardens.”

  “Oh, don’t tell me he’s a hippie.”

  “I highly doubt that,” José said. Asher opened his mouth to respond, but then his eyes fixed on the light at the end of the tunnel. Or rather, at the end of the hallway.

  “Sunlight!” Asher picked up the pace, passing the guard to get to the brightly lit door. He almost ran right into the head of a spear. “Whoa!” Hadn’t seen that new guard there at all!

  “You need authorization to—”

  “He’s clear!” their guide shouted from behind and the weapon was lifted, allowing Asher to go on. He made a rude gesture at the guard who had tried to skewer him, and stepped onto a stone path that led him farther into the garden.

  Blossoming trees filled the air with pink petals. The whole place looked almost as gay as Asher felt. His eyes followed one of the petals as the wind carried it toward a pond. A wooden bridge led across the water. It would have looked peaceful if not for the gu
ards standing on either side of it, seemingly ignorant of the beauty that surrounded them.

  “That’s the general. He’s expecting you,” their guide said, coming up behind Asher and pointing to a man that stood atop the bridge. He was looking out over the water, arms crossed in front of him. Asher had expected an old geezer, but this guy didn’t look older than thirty.

  Something weird was sticking out of the young man’s back and Asher tilted his head to get a better look at the… tails? The stranger actually had tails. Silvery white fox tails, four of them. And fox ears sticking out of his equally light hair.

  Asher hardly noticed the guards making way for them as they stepped onto the bridge, still busy ogling the fox-guy. “Beautiful weather, isn’t it?” Foxy said as they approached, glancing out over the garden.

  “Yeah, sure, whatever,” Asher said.

  “I am Ketsu,” Foxy said, turning around to give them a calculating look. “And I assume you are Asher and José? Vayla has told me a little about you.”

  “Who?” Asher asked, his eyes following the motions of the fox guy’s tails. It had to be a bitch getting all that hair out of the furniture.

  “Vayla?” Foxy frowned. “You’ve been traveling with her all this time.”

  “The lavalight?” José asked.

  “Why, yes. You never asked for her name?”

  “Who cares about that?” Asher said shrugging. “Are you a fox or something? Something furry. I know this guy who’s really into—”

  “Excuse me, but Vayla said you might be able to help us?” José interrupted what he was going to say.

  “I can do a lot of things.” Foxy fingered a red pearl necklace he was wearing. "I've been told you come from a different world than this one?"

  “Yeah and we heard you know something 'bout that," Asher said, eying him curiously.

  “Maybe I do.” Foxy’s eyes narrowed for just a second. Something about this fox guy was weird. And it wasn't just the lame jewelry.

  “Maybe?” Blind Guy repeated, his voice laced with suspicion.

  “Knowledge doesn’t come without a price,” Foxy said, his amber eyes piercing José. The wind picked up and blew a few petals at them. Asher watched Foxy catch one and grind it between his fingers.

  “So what you're saying is, you won't help us out of the goodness of your heart, is that it?"

  Foxy gave a wry smile and Asher noticed the bags under his eyes. He looked tired, and like he didn’t know how to use concealer. “Who would?” he said, making Asher raise one eyebrow. Foxy had a point there.

  “Vayla did,” José said.

  “She’s expecting payment for bringing you here,” Foxy said. “What did you think? She was guiding you for the kicks?” He scoffed. “And you just went along with her without even knowing her name.” He shook his head. “Who does that?”

  “I… We… I mean, I just sort of…” José went quiet, his face turning pale. The color didn’t suit him.

  “I just call her little bitch,” Asher said in his defense.

  Foxy snorted. “I shouldn’t pay her. You can hardly call this work. Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to go with strangers?”

  Asher wanted to tell him that his mother would have paid the kidnapper, but José spoke before he had a chance to.

  “What exactly are you paying her for? What do you want from us?” There was an urgency to his voice that made Asher think he was missing something. He looked around the garden. The branches of the trees swayed in the wind; the guards stood unmoving at the edges of the bridge. A cloud moved in front of the sun and cast a shadow over the scene.

  “I want to make a deal with you,” the fox guy said, the sound of cicadas accompanying his words.

  “What sort of deal?”

  “You’ll fight for me or you’ll never get to enjoy the sun like this again.”

  What the…! Asher narrowed his eyes at Foxy, glanced at the guards that moved to block the way off the bridge. “Fight what?” he demanded. “Fleas?”

  “No,” Foxy said, one of his ears twitching. “Those scumbags who think they can kill everyone who doesn’t agree with their rules.” A bitterness seeped into his voice that hadn’t been there before. “People should be able to believe in whatever they want to! To love whoever they want to!” His right hand clenched into a fist and his brows furrowed, he looked like he was going to throw punches. Taking a deep breath, he calmed down and leaned back against the railing of the bridge. “Wouldn’t you agree, José?” he said, glancing at Blind Guy.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” José said.

  “I don't care about all that," Asher said. "I'm gonna leave this hellhole anyway."

  “You’re not going anywhere without my say so,” Foxy said, looking at his guards. More had entered the garden, positioning themselves in front of all the exits. “It doesn’t have to be like this, though,” Foxy added. “You wouldn’t mind burning some things for me, would you, Asher?”

  Asher perked his ears at the mention of fire, while José swallowed. Looking over at him, Asher saw that all the color had drained from his face. “You’re the one burning down all those villages…” José said. “And all this time… she knew. We were just being…”

  “Led on, yes,” Foxy said, a smirk tugging on his lips. “You’ve played your part so well. So if you could just continue now and do as I ask…”

  “C’mon, it’s not so bad,” Asher said, turning to Blind Guy who looked like someone had just told him to kill cute little puppies. “All we gotta do is burn stuff!” Feeling excited, he reached into his pocket, fingers closing around his lighters. It had been far too long since he’d gotten to make a real fire. And now, according to Foxy's words, it would even make the world a better place! Who could say no to that?

  “No.”

  Asher gaped at José. What was wrong with that man?

  “That your final answer?” Foxy said, streaking a lock of hair back from his forehead.

  “I’ll stay in this world forever before I help you kill people,” José said flatly, a definite tone to his voice. Kill people, huh? But they were going to burn houses, not people. People could run. It was their problem if they weren’t fast enough.

  “That’s unfortunate,” Foxy said. As he spoke, the pearls around his neck glowed, flashed up, for just a second.

  “What are you going to do about it? Kill me?” José’s voice was calm, but his hands curled into fists.

  “No,” Foxy said. “That would be too much of a waste. You’ll be staying here and maybe the accommodations will change your mind. Or I will.”

  “I’m never going to change my mind.”

  “We’ll see,” Foxy smiled, as though he knew something they didn’t. “What about you, dragon?” he said then, glancing at Asher. “You need some extra convincing, too?”

  Asher scoffed at him. “Tell me what I gotta burn, I’ll do it.” He saw José shake his head from the corner of his eyes. “What?” he said, “Just ‘cause you want to make your life difficult don’t mean I have to!” The job description was awesome. Not his fault Blind Guy couldn’t see that.

  José sighed. “I just thought you…” He shook his head. “Forget it. My mistake.” Asher raised his eyebrows at him. What the hell was he talking about?

  Foxy cleared his throat. “Let’s get a move on,” he said, “I don’t have all day.” He gave a sign and the guards stomped up the bridge, circling in on José. “You’re coming with me,” Foxy said, grabbing Asher’s arm and pulling him towards the right side of the bridge, away from José.

  “Don’t touch me,” Asher hissed, trying to brush off the fox guy’s hand and looking back over his shoulder to see the guards lead Blind Guy down the other side. “Where are they taking him?”

  “Is that your problem?” Foxy asked, still holding on to his arm.

  “It sort of is, I guess,” Asher said, not sure how to feel about leaving Blind Guy behind.

  “Not anymore,” Foxy said, ears twitching ag
ain as he picked up the pace. “C’mon, I have a world to change and not a whole lot of time.”

  The sun broke through the clouds again and made Asher squint against the light. He couldn’t see José anymore.

  Chapter 20 - Taking the Fall

  “Try to get some shut-eye, right? You gonna head out in the morning,” the guard said, and then the heavy wooden door fell shut, leaving Asher on his own in the empty old dorm room.

  Dust danced in the light of the setting sun that filtered in through the thick bars in front of the small windows. Three beds were lined up on either side of the room. All the ones on the right side looked slept in. Hopefully their owners wouldn’t be back too soon. Asher wasn’t looking to make friends.

  He turned to the left side and tried to find the bed with the least stains, but they were all crappy. Maybe he'd just spend the night on the floor.

  He sat down on the ground. His gaze fell on the green bracelet that clung tightly to his left wrist. He tried moving it, but it wouldn’t budge. He’d told Foxy that neon green didn’t suit him, but the man had insisted. Foxy’s taste in jewelry sucked.

  Sighing, Asher crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back against the bed frame to stare at the gray ceiling. Left without anything interesting to do, he reached for one of his lighters and started playing with it. He clicked the flame on and out, wondered what Blind Guy was doing, where he was. He’d tried asking, but had never gotten a satisfying answer.

  The door opened and three freaks strolled in. His new roommates. Yay. An overgrown lizard, an ugly human and someone who looked like a mix between a troll and a dwarf. Thinking about how that one had been conceived was going to give Asher nightmares. Focusing back on his lighter, Asher tried to blend all of them out.

  “Hey there, pretty, what’s your name?”

  Asher glanced up and glared at the three uglies. Which of them was trying to flirt with him? He had to know who to kick in the nuts if this kept on. If that particular species had nuts. Man, this world was confusing.