Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. It involves gay sex among other things. If you feel your soul will burn in hell after reading this, please do not read it. Or read it anyway because you know you are already on you way there. If you are in an area that does not allow you to read/access this, do not read it. Everyone else, enjoy.
Chapter 5: The Shadow Bloom
After my enhancement was completed, I met Daniel by the side of the road. He grabbed on to me and we flew at a blinding speed to Central America. We spend the next few hours exploring the underground cave system deep in the forest. Daniel's eyes were full of wonder as we explored the various stalagmites and stalactites structures within. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time for site seeing. I grabbed his hand and we flew deeper into the cave. It took some effort to get through some of the tight crawl spaces but eventually we found what I was looking for. Before my eyes were a group of blue naturally occurring crystals. These crystals had no magic within them, but they were a great magical conduit. But the most important detail was that these crystals naturally defused the magical energy used by the Order of the Shadow Bloom. We harvested these crystals and fused them with three steel staffs. With the sharp crystal at the end, the staffs actually looked more like spears. Since they were tools against the Order of the Shadow Bloom, I named them `Shadowbane Staffs'.
Throughout this journey, I had been paying close attention to Daniel. Whenever possible, his eyes wandered back on me and when I held his hand, a smile crept through his lips. I could see the contentment in his eyes from just spending time with me. When we were next to each other, I could feel that he wanted to touch me but was afraid of how I would react. When I gave him a kiss or a hug as a thank you, his heart began beating like a drum. Keith was right. This boy had fallen for me deeply.
During lunch time, the following Monday, I wanted to push Daniel to a normal comfort level. I suggested that it was time he and Keith make peace. He was unsure but I wouldn't take no for an answer. He finally gave in and I dragged him to my normal hang-out spot. Keith was there by himself. He jumped to his feet as soon as he saw Daniel.
Nervously, Daniel waved and said, "Hi, I just wanted to tell you that bully wouldn't be bothering you anymore. I took care of it."
The awkward tension left Keith speechless. He saw that I was pleading with him with my eyes. Finally, he sighed and said, "Thanks for your help."
As if things weren't tense enough, Alex chose that moment to arrive trailed by that freshman with the Shadow Bloom necklace. I could tell Keith and Alex were communicating with each other using body language. It appeared that they agreed on something unknown to the rest of us. Alex turned to Daniel and asked. "So, you're hanging with us today?"
Daniel gave me an uncomfortable glance and answered, "Sure!"
With that, we all turned our attention to the freshman. Alex introduced him as Derrick Blake. He was about 5'7", slim, with brown hair, a baby face, and wore glasses. He just moved to town two weeks ago. Alex met him in art class. Since he didn't know that many people, Alex wanted to introduce him to us.
Though I was suspicious, I kept myself calm and watched him carefully throughout our conversation. Overall, he acted like a normal kid his age. There were no signs of duplicity but I did detect a very faint concealment spell at work. The spell felt very complex; too complex for someone like him to be able to create.
"So Derrick, I have never seen a necklace like yours before. What's up with that flower?" I asked.
"Oh this?" he answered. "It's just something my mom gave to me. There was supposed to be some mystical background behind it." He laughed at the idea.
"Well I love a good story. Tell us the story behind that flower," I nudged Daniel.
"Yea, yea, tell us the story," Daniel said following my lead.
"Supposedly thousands of years ago, a powerful sorcerer led an army to conquer Europe. He was too powerful to be stopped and killed and burned down any village that didn't obey him. One of the villages that he burned had three survivors; a mother and two sons. They were hiding in some cave and discovered this flower growing in absolute darkness." He pointed to his necklace. "Somehow they learned some magical seal base on the flower and killed the wizard," he finished.
Keith frowned and said, "Kind of a dull story."
"Hey! You guys asked for the story. I didn't say it would be good." He sounded hurt.
Alex changed the subject and our conversation continued. Derrick had a very optimistic view of the world. His life revolved around school, reading, and video games. As soon as the subject of video games came up, we couldn't get him to shut up. I truly thought he might be there to spy on Keith, just as Elena did on the weekend, but his eyes were not on Keith at all. Whenever he could, he stole a glance at Daniel's buff body. It wasn't hard to recognize the lust in his eyes.
As time passed, I began to think Derrick didn't really know anything about the Order of the Shadow Bloom. It was likely that his parents were members and eventually he would become one of them. It seemed like currently he was just a nerdy kid who had few cares in the world. I told Daniel to get more information out of Derrick anyway he could; even if he had to fuck him. That got a laugh out of Daniel, as well as punch to my shoulder.
It was late afternoon on Thursday when Daniel and I met at our usual spot at the park. "So, did you find out anything from Derrick?" I asked.
He shook his head and answered, "Nothing but stories, video strategy, and storylines from video games." He leaned back against a tree and asked, "What's the story with this Shadow Bloom thing? I can see it worries you and that really scares me. I never thought there was anything in this world that you would be afraid of."
I leaned into him and said, "I'm not invincible, you know. There are plenty of things I'm scared of. I'm scared of these Shadow Bloom people and I'm scared of falling in love with you."
He gave me a light shove and laughed, "Quit teasing me or I will beat your ass. But seriously, why are you scared of them?"
I draped my arms around his shoulders, trying to figure out where to begin with my story. Derrick was correct on the basic background behind the origin of the Order of the Shadow Bloom. The order was created by those three survivors. In fact, their leadership structure is still based on those three. Always, the Shadow Bloom members are lead by one Matriarch and two male counselors. Their primary mission was to destroy class 3 sorcerers before they realized their full potential. Their aim was to stop any one person from amassing enough power to bring tragedy to the world.
The classes of sorcery are based upon power level. A class 1 sorcerer can only do minor tricks, like enhancing a fire to make it bigger. A class 2 sorcerer can manipulate the elements as well as create more complex spells, like uprooting a tree and making it attack. A class 3 sorcerer can do all that, but on a grand scale. A powerful hurricane or a massive firestorm is not out of the question for a class 3 sorcerer.
The most efficient attack against a class 3 sorcerer was their Shadow Bloom Seal. It paralyzed its victim and used their own power to burn them from the inside out. I happen to be a class 3 sorcerer.
My story begins 10 years from now. I landed a decent job working at an accounting firm but still lived at home. My mom was very ill, so my dad needed my help in taking care of her. I was dating a really hot blonde by the name of Eric at the time. Though things were far from perfect, I was pretty content with my life up to that point.
Then one night while I was getting ready for bed, I heard sounds coming from the living room. When I went out to investigate, I found, to my horror, my dad lying in a pool of blood. Three men were standing over him and one of them was Eric. I went insane with anger and lashed out at them with a chain of lightning. That was the first time I got to know that I had any kind of power. The force of the lightning knocked them through the walls and out the house. I ran to check on my dad and realized that he was dead. Thing was far from over though. Eric and his companions came back through the hole in the wall. They combined their power to launch the Shadow Bloom Seal at me. I grabbed a crystal ornament on the mantle and threw it against the seal as hard as I could. To my surprise, it shattered the seal and the crystal shards lodged itself into Eric's heart. His companions were stunned at the turn of events. I launched a cone of flame from each hand, roasting them alive before they had a chance to react. I went to check on my mom and found that she had passed away in her sleep. Ever since that day, I did all I could to track down the Shadow Bloom and killed all of them for what they did to my dad.
"Wow, I can understand your hatred for them. But you should be more than powerful enough to deal with them right?" asked Daniel.
"Against one of them or even a group of them, I can handle. But I can't handle all the arsenals that they have. Plus, this time I have a chance to protect my family. I'm definitely scared since I have more to lose." I said.
I took his hands and looked into his eyes. "I wasn't kidding when I said I was afraid of falling in love with you. I do know how you feel about me, but I lived a dangerous life with many battles ahead. I don't want to see you in that kind of danger. Besides, you are not comfortable with being out yet. I doubt you would want to walk hand in hand with me down the hall at school."
"Are you kidding me?" His eyes were sparkling with hope. "I would kill for a chance to be with you. I don't know when these feeling developed but I have never cared for anyone more than I care about you. You are the only man I want in this world. I thought you had feelings for Keith and that I had no chance. I didn't want to tell you how I felt and risk losing any chance of being by your side, even as a friend. Being near you, talking to you, is all I need to make me feel happy. I don't even care what kind of danger I will be in. If you give me a chance to love you, being outed is a small price to pay."
I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him for a deep kiss. He took the opportunity to stick his tongue in my mouth and explore vigorously. We were making out for about ten minutes before I broke the kiss to catch my breath. His face was beaming and I had never seen a man so happy in my entire life.
"So, you said you don't care about being outed?" I said with a sly smile on my face. "Well, Keith and your brother are hiding in the bushes over there for the past hour. I made sure they can't hear anything but they surely saw that kiss."
Despite his bravado, Daniel was panicking at the thought of being outed to his brother. He rushed to the bushes just in time to see Keith and Alex dashing off towards the parking lot. I took a different path and cut them off before they got to their car and gave Daniel a chance to catch up to them. Daniel was quite upset at being spied upon but Alex and Keith didn't seem to care. They were both snigger quietly which made him even madder. I think he was about to punch Alex in the face when I grabbed his arms to calm him down.
Still laughing a little bit, Alex said, "So this is the girl you told me about, eh bro? He's a lot hotter than I expected."
Daniel's face was red with embarrassment. I put my hand on his back and said, "You told me that you would be ok with being outed. Don't go back on your word."
He just took my hand and said, "Let's just get out of here."
I waved a goodbye to my friends. As soon as I got into his truck and closed the door, he sped us out of the parking lot. I knew it will take some time for him to get over this situation, so I didn't want to push him. I held his hand as he drove away from the park. When he overcame his embarrassment, a grin crept over his face. He kept glancing at me, as if he couldn't believe I was holding his hand. I had to yell at him to keep his eyes on the road.
I was still curious to see what Keith and Alex were doing after we left. I was using my far sight to check up on them when I felt the energy signatures of the Order of the Shadow Bloom.
Hurriedly, I raised Daniel's truck off the ground, wrapped an invisibility field around it and flew us back to the park. Daniel kept asking me what was going on but my attention was focused on the current problem. I could only tell him that Alex and Keith were in grave danger. Just then, I saw a Shadow Bloom Seal being launched at Keith. Alex pushed him out of the way just in time, but sacrificed himself in the process. He fell to the ground and stopped moving.
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To be continued... Please stay tune for Chapter 6: Rise of the Frost King
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I welcome all feedback and look forward to all comments. This is my first story so please be gentle. My ego bruises easily. hehe.
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