Chapter Seven – Peculiar Feelings

Warmth.

That’s the thing Ka’yen had never felt before. No one was there to hug him during the coldest nights, no one was there to brush his tears when he cried, no one comforts him whenever he felt so down. Maybe that’s why these feelings were new to him—to wake up with someone’s arm wrapped around his torso, gently yet firmly, as if it meant to cage him from the harm of the world, as if it meant to put him there forever.

Turning his head to the side, he was met with a pair of round, almond shaped eyes, lazily blinking but still intensely staring at him, not even when he had taken his gaze somewhere else in shame.

“W-Why am I here? What happened?” he cleared his throat, eyes on the ceiling.

“You forgot that already?”

Ka’yen didn’t. He perfectly remembered how embarrassing he was when he came to the Fire wolf’s chambers and suddenly slapping him like a madman, and then he just started crying. Blood rushed to his cheeks immediately and he removed the arm around him, before sitting up.

“I-I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable. I am going out—“

Before he could put his limbs down, the man suddenly was behind him, the heat from his body was piercing through clothes, breath fanning on the nape of his neck.

Same arms wrapped around his body like a blanket, locking him in embrace. The weight on his left shoulder was more than enough to conclude that the wolf rested his chin there, “Don’t go, stay here with me.”

The way that voice soothes his ears smoothly brought shivers to his spine, Ka’yen thought that this is dangerous—so dangerous.

“Let go.” He snapped at him, hands clawing the forearm by his belly.

“No.”

“I will scream if you don’t let go.”

The wolf chuckled—he freaking chuckled—like he was playing with him all this time, making fun of him. “Then scream.”

Ka’yen didn’t take back his threat and screamed.

Chanyeol suddenly pushed him back on the bed and straddled the man, silencing him again with his lips, swallowing his half-hearted scream. Ka’yen didn’t expect that and he began to squirm, only to get his air knocked out of him.

The wolf tenderly his lips, and it was so sinfully good and he was starting to stop struggling, his strength wasn’t even half of the man’s. The fire wolf managed to open his legs and settle in between them—much to Ka’yen’s surprise.

When Chanyeol trailed down his lips down to his chin and jawline, he started inhaling as if he was deprived of air for long. “Stop—Stop it.”

And so Chanyeol did.

He looked up at him with those pleading, puppy eyes making him groan and curse.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you playing with me like this?” he scowled at him.

“Who says I’m playing with you?”

“What do you think you’re doing? You’re dancing with me?!” he sassed back.

He could almost hear the laughter in those eyes. “There’s a dance you can do on the bed,” he whispered, leaning close to his ear, “Only in bed and exclusively for two.”

“Get away from me!!” Ka’yen screamed and he unconsciously pushed the man on his chest with his hand on fire. Caught off guard, Chanyeol stumbled on the other side with a full blown laughter.

“I ing swear! I swear if I manage to get someone who could freeze you to death I will ing do it, Fire wolf.” Ka’yen growled and stood up from the bed, dusting his clothes.

“Aw, you don’t have to be so violent. You even tried to burn me.” He pertained to the fire on Ka’yen’s hand when he pushed him.

“Unfortunately, you can’t be roasted.”

Grinning the man laid on the bed, legs and arms spread, “Call me Chanyeol.”

Huffing, Ka’yen crossed his arms and shook his head, “We’re not close enough for me to call you by your name.”

“Oh?” The wolf turned to the side and propped his head with an arm, “We’re not close enough when our lips locked, just a while ago.”

“I am not pertaining to proximity!” he snarled.

The fire wolf laughed his heart out, much to Ka’yen’s displeasure. He groaned and ran a hand on his scarlet hair. “I don’t have time to play with you, alright? I am going out. I’m sure the king would be pleased to meet you.”

Chanyeol watched the man walk out of the room. As soon as the door shut, leaving him in the confines of the majestic chamber, the fire wolf’s grin faded into a small smile, eyes never losing its spark now that he had found the person he’d be living for this time, and the reason why would he gladly open his eyes every morning without heavy heart.

Ka’yen sneaked out of the castle before Ravi and Leo could even look for him. He wanted sometime for himself. Thinking about the things that happened yesterday, and earlier, he was starting to doubt that Fire Wolf was just playing with him. The way Chanyeol gazes at him, it was as if he knew him, inside out, he knew his weakness, his strength, and he knew his secrets.

He wasn’t going to lie to himself. Somehow when his eyes first landed to the wolf, he felt some kind of familiarity. His heart constricted, aching to touch him, his eyes watered, wanting to release all the pain that was locked in his heart. He felt if he cried in Chanyeol’s arms, everything would be better.

He felt, he felt and he felt…but everything made no sense to him at all.

Nothing made sense to him at all.

He was lost in thoughts that he didn’t notice he had passed the capital city and the kingdom’s front gate. Ka’yen didn’t mind though, he could handle himself well and it’s not like he didn’t know the way back. Pondering about random things, Ka’yen entered the woods while playing with one of his swords, swinging it here and there, across and back, drawing an infinite symbol—when suddenly a snap of twigs not so far took his attention.

His foot had dug deep the snow, keeping in stance as he waited for something to come. It was when a chilling force surrounded his body that he turned to his right, finding a hooded man casting some frost spell on him.

Ka’yen felt the nip in his skin, and the haze of the snow and wind kept him from seeing the opponent. “!” he cursed and swung the blade once, the fire breaking the spell from blinding him. He grabbed the hooded man’s neck before kicking its guts, sending him on the ice bed.

When he pulled the dark garment, he noticed that the man, or the mage, was branded with an astral symbol on its forehead, not with ink—but something glittery and white.

He made sure to remember the symbol before he turned his attention to the mage. “You shouldn’t have come here,” laughed the man, “She’s coming for you…she wanted you dead, fire child!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, old man. But who is this she?”

The man laughed, “The queen of death! She’ll bring back the dead and rule this place, which was hers in the first place before other inhabitants lived here. She’ll freeze everything that will not bow down to her—and it will be you whom she will turn into a cold stone of ice first before all.”

Ka’yen made sure to put extra force when he pushed the man’s head down, stabbing him from the neck down to his throat. He released the mage who turned into a pile of snow, leaving the dark mage robe and hood behind.

He wandered around the parameter to make sure no one else like that man lingers and could threaten the people of Ybarra, since he wasn’t too far from the kingdom. He found some traces of foot prints which he followed before it was even washed away with the snow storm. As far as he got, the stronger the storm gets. Ka’yen brought the hood of his coat on to shield his face from freezing.

What he found was beyond appalling.

It was a high altar—or something akin to it—but was now frozen solid against the walls of the nearby mountain. It’s just a few steps up to the left of the road he was taking. He climbed up the slope of snow which had covered the stairs.

He wasn’t really a religious person, so he didn’t know anything about the gods that the people in Alfaran were worshipping. He doesn’t even have the clue to what this altar for was, but he knew it was a sacred place for those who worshipped here.

“This is really…” Ka’yen shook his head as he found nothing to salvage. Heaving a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and reached up. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to do this—but he touched the wall of ice, the heat from his palm slowly cracking the sturdy fortification.

It didn’t take long before the fire engulfed the altar, and the once frozen holy place was back to its normal state, albeit that it was again covered with thin layers of snow because of the nonstop hailstorm.

At least it wasn’t as frozen as before.

Ka’yen bowed to the altar for respect. As he turned around he failed to see the little creature that hopped in front of the altar—until the little beast jumped on his head much to his shock.

“Wh-What the hell?!” He reached out for the thing and felt nothing but soft fur. He brought it up close to his face, holding its long ears and stared back into its white glass eyes.

It’s like a rabbit, but not quite.

Rabbits don’t have long, fluffy tails, and rabbits have smaller eyes, not like doll ones like this ones. The paws were similar and the structure of the body, but this creature—whatever this was, had thicker coat that rabbits, and it’s pure white, like snow.

When it jumped from his grasp, Ka’yen was once again dumbfounded for the nth time that day. The freaking creature turned into a man. White hair, white eyes, a little bit shorter than him, with lean but well-built body.

“W-W-What are you…” Ka’yen’s shaking fingers pointed at the man. “Y-You turned into a man…”

The man smiled, “I’m a man after all…”

“But you were a rabbit--!”

The man laughed, “It’s just one of my mastered skills. My name is Xiumin…and thank you…for setting me free.”

“I- What?”

 “When you defrosted the altar, you set me free.” Xiumin smiled. “That altar is my home…I was caught inside when… when it froze years ago. Thank you for saving me.”

Ka’yen wasn’t sure what to say but a, “You-You’re welcome?”

Xiumin smiled and tilted his head, “Since you set me free, you’re my master now.”

“M-Master?”

“Yes!” Xiumin giggled, “I rarely take a liking for someone to be my master, so you may call me whenever you need me, I will be your strength.”

The man shifted to its animal form, hopping on his shoulder with its long, bushy tail around his nape, its tip hanging on Ka’yen’s shoulder. The latter could just stared at the distance, trying to digest what just happened.