The sun shined brightly through the partially open curtains as Desmond rolled to his side to see Aurora’s back. He studied her well-defined figure and impressive muscle definition. Very lean and functional whilst maintaining a beautiful, slim frame. He noticed how scarred she was from past engagements. The scars reminded him of his own, though, she did not have as many as he did. There was one long scar that ran diagonal from her right shoulder to her left hip.

  In his eyes, she was beautiful like a warrior goddess. The scars highlighted this fact. He stared at her longingly trying to remember this moment in time for himself as the light shined on his face.

  She slowly woke up reaching back to grab Desmond’s hand. She placed his hand on her flat stomach as she said sweetly, “Morning, stallion.”

  “Morning, sweets. What do you want to do?”

  “Just stay right here for a moment please… Just hold me.”

  “Okay,” Desmond said as he wrapped his arms around her kissing her right shoulder and neck as he worked his way into kissing her cheek. “So what now?”

  “Shh! Just for a minute. Don’t ruin it,” she said softly as she grasped his hand tightly pulling it up to her chest.

  Her other hand was twiddling her sapphire necklace. Her eyes were still closed as she smiled delightfully with his embrace. Desmond obliged and held her gently as he spooned her. His hand began caressing her breasts slowly.

  She kissed his knuckles and asked after a brief few minutes of silence as her eyes slowly opened, “You okay?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You cried in your sleep last night.”

  “Oh,” he said haltingly.

  Desmond retreated into himself and thought back on Johnathan as he scooted slightly back out of the sunlight and her. He thought about the words Vul’Goth told him about the prince. He found it odd that the human and Elvan nobles painted Vul’Goth as a blood hungry, savage war lord. Yet, Desmond only saw a hulking orc who had deep respect for the prince and understood honor despite how menacing he came across. Those kind, blue eyes radiated in Desmond’s mind as he remembered the anguish he saw in them. That anguish then reminded Desmond of Johnathan and his burnt corpse. The blood, the smell of sulfur, the rain, the screams, the pain; everything came back to Desmond in that moment.

  Aurora said gingerly, “I don’t bite.”

  “Okay.”

  “Dez?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You said someone’s name… Johnathan, I believe?”

  Desmond stayed silent. The only thing replaying in his mind was the blast from Earth Breaker ripping Johnathan to pieces along with the blood curdling screams of everyone else in the blast. The burning tear of Johnathan’s flesh echoed in his mind.

  Desmond thought to himself, “I should’ve been more aware… I should’ve and maybe he would… No… I was supposed to die.”

  He stayed silent as his grip tightened and his arms tensed intensely.

  Aurora asked concernedly as she gripped his arm tightly pulling it off of her, “Desmond?”

  “…”

  “Desmond? You okay? You’re gripping me tightly and it hurts.”

  “Oh… Sorry,” he said letting go whilst retreating further into the shadow just outside of the sun’s rays. “I’m sorry… Sorry for that.”

  “It’s fine just… Okay… Just scoot into me and stay there. I like your body pressed on mine. Sigh – anyway sorry for causing a bad memory.”

  “It’s alright. Not your fault. Just happens.”

  “Yeah,” she said empathetically. “Who was he? The name you cried out last night?”

  “He was… My best friend… My only friend.”

  “Ah,” Aurora replied with sad understanding.

  Desmond kissed the back of her neck and whispered an apology into her ear for making her feel sad and for waking her up. The sun shined brightly on both of them again.

  She replied, “You don’t have to apologize, but I do appreciate it.”

  She turned back slightly and placed her hand on his right cheek. She delicately ran her finger around his facial scar and kissed him.

  “Hmm. We both have scars… Noticeable and hidden,” she said. “At least I can hide mine, somewhat.”

  “Now you’re just being rude,” Desmond replied jokingly as he kissed her mid-laugh.

  Slowly, his moment of joy disappeared as he pulled his head back from hers. A lingering, dark thought crept in. He remembered the advice he was given recently about not trusting anyone and being careful with what you tell people.

  Desmond asked shyly, “Aurora… Can you promise me one thing?”

  “Yes?”

  “Can you… Please not tell anyone of this? My night terrors and the other stuff I said last night on the balcony. I just… I just don’t want others… You know?”

  “Dez,” she said while kissing him. “I promise, love. I promise.”

  “Dumb question… Is this a one night thing or possibly something else,” Desmond asked softly.

  She was silent for a moment. She fully rolled her body over to face him and she placed her hands delicately on his face. She said as she nibbled on his right ear lobe, “If you want it to be something else other than a one night fling, then I will not hesitate to see you again, love.”

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  “Are you… Okay with that? Or are you just doing this because of my new status?”

  “Dear… You have been the only one I’ve been with that cares this much. Your status as a new ‘hero’ has no bearing on my feelings for you… Besides… I like you. Like me too?”

  “Yes,” he said kissing her. “You probably only like me because of the sex?”

  “That helps, but really because you are a sensitive and sweet man who deeply cares and I can’t help but enjoy every moment I’m with you… I feel safe to be myself and not just be a pretty face who occasionally fights. I can be me… You know?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You feel the same, kind of?”

  “Yes.”

  “Certain?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay,” she said smiling with a minuscule tear forming that she quickly wiped away.

  Aurora slinked out of the bed and stretched her arms and legs out with a loud cracking sound in her lower back. She went into the wash room after bending down to stretch her hamstrings. Desmond laid back staring at the ceiling and the crystal light fixture in the royal guest room feeling a sense of relief and fading anxiety. He sat up and noticing himself in the cabinet mirror right across the bed. He sighed tiredly as he saw his scarred body. He stared intensely at the scar across his eye and the long scar that ran across his chest.

  He looked back down at his hand seeing the blue light twinkle dimly like a grain of sand embedded in his palm. He still wondered why he had it and why it still shined on him. He stared at himself and then back up at the ceiling for ten minutes as he heard the bath running.

  He thought to himself, “Why can’t it go away?”

  Aurora finished up as she walked out toweling her hair. Desmond put his underwear back on as he lit up one of the joints Tom gave him. Aurora sat next to him and took a puff opening the balcony doors letting in more sunlight.

  She looked at the clock on the wall and said, “Shit!”

  She put the bath robe on as she was frantically pulling her underwear on as well. She piled up her clothes and knife messily in her arms.

  She said hurriedly, “I have to get back to my room. Need to check up on security, my mom, and all that stuff, you know?”

  “Yeah no worries. Do your thing.”

  “I’m sorry for this but… Listen… Desmond… Don’t dwell on the past. You’re too kind to let it destroy you from the inside… I know because I’ve seen it and dealt with it, but never like anything you have gone through and I can only imagine.”

  “Yeah… Thank you, though.”

  “Dear,” she said softly as she straddled him for a moment. “We can meet again… I don’t know when or how. Until then, I want to thank you for last night. Good luck with training over there. Ciao!”

  "Later."

  She kissed him handing him a folded piece of paper. “You weren’t half bad in case you’re wondering. See you!”

  “Thanks,” he said as he kissed her back slowly as he held her for a minute.

  She composed herself, grabbed her stuff, and walked swiftly out of the room. Desmond sat up still smoking as he went into the washroom and looked at himself closely in the mirror. His messy, long hair and tired face bothered him as he had to slowly remind himself that he was still a soldier of the king’s army. He cursed to himself realizing that he is also a knight and officer now. He looked over at the Medal of Honor next to the sink. He sighed as he dipped his head down in annoyed acceptance of his new role. He unfolded the paper and read an address and two words with her name written in flowy cursive that read, “Write me.” He smiled as he jumped into the bathtub after he finished the joint.

  Aurora was walking briskly back to her room when she noticed two of the Elvan guards standing by her door and four others standing by Alvara’s door just down the hall. She sighed annoyingly and walked stiffly to her room. One of the Elvan guards smirked while the other one gave her a fist bump. She fist bumped back the one guard and gave the smirking guard the middle finger as she slammed the door shut cursing in Elvish. The one smirking guard held his hand out to the other guard who rolled his eyes handing over a few silver coins.

  She went to her bed and flopped down on her face feeling a mix of happiness and annoyance with herself. She yelled into her pillow, “Be more professional next time… Damnit… I’m becoming like her… Do I actually like him? He was very kind and sweet unlike the other human knights. He listens and is a sensitive soul. He likes nature, enjoys poetry and art and enjoys helping others… He’s hurting… Fuck. I am becoming like her… Fuck, I like him! Fuck! Fucking shit! Why was the only thought on me when he talked about his past was for him to ravage me in that moment… Fuck, I still have the mission! Fucking shit, I still have to meet with her soon! Fuck, I’m becoming her… FUCK!”

  Outside Alvara’s room, Renault was quietly leaving. He was dressed neatly in his dress uniform, but with a few faint hickeys on his thick neck and most of the chest buttons undone. Alvara stood just inside the door and kissed him one last time. The door closed and Renault immediately went into his permanently annoyed state as he walked down the hall.

  A messenger urgently ran up to Renault with papers exhaustively saying, “Urgent news! Very urgent!”

  Renault read the papers and cursed to himself. His eyes widen as his hands nearly tore the papers apart as he finished reading them. He then jogged away yelling at the guards and staff nearby to alert Tom.

  Desmond sat on the small balcony from his room noticing the training grounds for the royal guards and knights in the far off distance. He noticed a bunch of knights taking turns jousting, wrestling, performing calisthenics, and scaling makeshift walls and obstacles in full plate armor. He then heard a booming, but distant voice. He looked slightly to the left and noticed Captain Arn running in formation with a bunch of knights out of armor as he was yelling a cadence from what appeared to be the end of a long run.

  The men in the formation were in ragged and sweat stained tunics as Arn was shirtless and glistening in the morning sun. Desmond couldn’t help but notice how ripped and imposing Arn was in comparison to the rest of the knights. He even looked bigger than the knights fully decked out in plate armor.

  Desmond thought to himself, “For a man his age, I wish I could be as disciplined and as fit as him… Shit! I’m not ready to be a knight in training am I? Was it right to tell her that I was going to be training over there soon? That I had a new mission and squad? I need to be more careful. Should not have told her… But she was sweet and kind though… This is my life now. Fuck, I’m not ready to be a hero… But I can’t hesitate. No more. I have to do it. I will do it… I’m scared.”

  Renault jogged into Tom’s study after taking the arcane elevator to get up there. Tom was busy smoking his pipe and studying the history of Light Wielder. He had it placed on two metal stands by his table. He wore magnified glasses trying to see where the source of the blue light came from. There was also a large and ancient book written in a dead language with multiple notes scribbled poorly in Elvish with a detailed drawing of Light Wielder in it. Tom was murmuring like a chattering dog to himself. He was also shirtless and only wearing linen shorts.

  Renault loudly knocked on the wooden door. Tom looked back appearing like a googly eyed fish with a white beard.

  “Ah, Renault! Sorry for the stuffy draft in here. Been roasting something for dinner tonight,” said Tom as he hurriedly walked over to the fire place stewing sauce in a cast iron bucket with a giant hunk of pork in it. “Eight hour pork stew. Old recipe.”

  He then opened the curtains revealing a disheveled mess of room as the light peered in. Books, papers, random sketches, after effects of magical experiments, and lab equipment strewed the place like a cacophony of organized madness.

  Renault asked sarcastically, “It’s morning. Do you ever sleep?”

  “Only when nothing important is happening. But now everything is happening. This sword and Sir Desmond are linked somehow just like the Prince was. Never had time to study it fully… I don’t know why yet… The history is rather fascinating and the Elves really want this sword back in their hands because it was gifted to an Elvan hero initially. However, the supposed goddess imbued in the sword chooses whomever she deems worthy to wield it. Supposed to feel like a feather in the user’s hands, but weighs thirty pounds in everyone else’s. Plus the power and cutting ability disappears as well if the original wielder is dead on not using it… Sorry for rambling. I’m aware you have something urgent to say?”

  “The king desires us for a private emergency meeting about Light Wielder and a new issue that needs to be dealt with,” said Renault sternly.

  Tom took off the glasses and looked back at Renault with concern. Tom asked worriedly, “New issue? No… Has he been reawakened?”

  “Yes!”

  “Oh no.”

  “We’re fucked,” Renault said. “We need to seek out your old master. I’ll set up the meeting with the king.”