The Beast That was Promised ✔

THIRTY-FOUR: A New Start

"What is it?" he asked as two children ran towards them, one of them limping.

The limping one was crying. "I cut my knee," he said. He was only young, five or six, an orphan like all the rest of them.

Isiah picked him up and smiled at him. "We'll get something to fix that," he replied and walked down the hill towards his empty home. He had all sorts of medical supplies in there. While he may not be able to heal anyone like Rina, he could create things to help.

The purple sheen of the clouds to the east was a constant reminder of what the power of creation could do. He was still learning how to use it properly and hadn't found much of a reason to make changes to how the border worked, but when he eventually needed to, he would be able to do it with ease.

The little boy was quiet as Isiah placed him on the kitchen bench and dug around the cupboard for a bandage. "Thank you, Father," he whispered when Isiah placed it on his knee. Isiah kissed him on the forehead and pushed him towards the front door with orders to play again. The other adults were preparing lunch and would call them when it was ready.

"It always surprises me how good you are with the children," a familiar voice said from the doorway. Isiah whirled around the face Emrick and gasped at what he saw. "What? You don't like it?"

He shook his head as he moved closer. "It doesn't suit you," he said honestly, running a hand over his shaved hair. It felt strange under his fingers, prickly, but nice. "Sorry I wasn't there to greet you."

"Looks like you had a little emergency," Emrick replied, a smile on his pale face.

"Something like that," Isiah muttered, his eyes on Emrick's lips. With a roll of his eyes, the other man leaned forward and Isiah smiled into the kiss. It was the first time they had seen each other in more than a month and he was going to enjoy it for as long as possible. He held tight to Emrick's clothing and pushed closer, causing the other man to chuckle.

"Did you miss me?" he asked when he pulled away.

Isiah hummed and kissed his cheek. "Of course, I did," he answered and hugged him. "I should have been there for your ceremony. Rina's too. She did have hers, right?"

"She did. She's a Warrior too," he answered and pride swelled within him. He should have been there too, but the Sanctum had been his top priority when Emrick had finished his training. "And we both understood. This place is far more important than a ceremony. Besides, it was awkward and uncomfortable, you wouldn't have liked it."

He raised an eyebrow at him. "You're just saying that to make me feel better," he said, laughing when Emrick wrapped his arms around his waist.

"No, it's the truth. They weren't exactly happy to be welcoming a halfling into their ranks, Beast or not," he said and sighed. It must have been bad if he sounded that upset. The ceremony was supposed to be a happy affair, but from the look in Emrick's eyes, it wasn't.

He kissed his jaw. "I'm sorry," he mumbled and hugged him tighter. "How long until you go back to Ishmar?"

"Two weeks. Means I get to spend some time with you and my lab," he said with a chuckle. It felt so good to see him, but two weeks wasn't enough. He couldn't blame Emrick though, he had a job to do in Ishmar as Nerin advisor. It was part of the reason they had built so close to the capital city, so that it wasn't much of an issue to travel between places.

He hummed again and leaned his head against Emrick's shoulder. "You don't get to spend much time here," he said.

"That's why we're looking into getting a second advisor for Nerin so that I can concentrate on other things. I was thinking that I would take a background role as a royal scientist or something once Nerin gets himself sorted, continue on with Turian's work. What do you think?" he asked, pulling away to smile hopefully at him.