Wild Magic Four: The Light Beyond Constellations- a M/M fantasy romance

After Epilogue: Faith

"Re!" the young woman yelled, right up against his ear. A darker-skinned man, huge next to the small, younger man and the teenage girl, and a tall, regal, golden-skinned woman with hair the shade of the night sky without any stars stood to the side, both watching the exchange with amusement and affection. The big man chuckled, and the teenager let her brother go, dropping to her feet and glaring over at the bigger man.

"You could have explained that you weren't a monster, you asshole," the girl hissed up at the man that was nearly three times her size, and then, before he could reply, Marlin stepped again, and he and Ravin stood in a cottage just big enough for a bed, a fireplace, and a bookshelf covered in bottles, plants, and clothes.

"You're alright, dear Asa. Please, dear boy, I'm here. I'm here, my dear boy."

Two men lay in the bed while a blizzard roared outside the window. Though the window had no glass or cloth covering it, and there were visible cracks in the wooden walls of the cottage, no wind or cold came into the room. The fire crackled and bit against the stone of the hearth, no wood used to light it or keep it lit. The room was scorching, but one of the men, only the slightest bit smaller than the older man in whose arms he lay, shivered as if caught in the snow outside with no protection. Both lay bare, their skin flush against each other, and the smell of sex permeated the room.

Though no sound escaped his lips, the smaller man's lips moved as if he screamed, cried, bleated out his distress as he sobbed in the bigger man's arms. His breaths were the only sounds he made, his terror visible in the darkness of his huge, heavy lidded eyes. He clutched at the other man, who looked near tears himself, as if he fought against him. But Marlin knew, as well as Ravin did, that it was not the man who held him that had him screaming out in mute terror, but the monsters in his mind.

"What about the spirit witch?" Marlin repeated what he had asked before leaving the bear shifter and his mate. He kept his voice quiet, knowing that unlike all the others they had viewed that night, the man who held his mate to his chest on the other side of the cottage would be able to sense them, hear them, if they weren't overly careful. "He'll return to Swyer eventually, you know this. He has to— to find Mem. To find his mate. Whether he likes it or not, he'll have to go back there. How comfortable will you be having him around your chosen again after what he did to them the last time he was there?"

Ravin shook her head and took a step towards the two men, huddled together as they fought her sweet Asaling's nightmares together. But with one step, the wood creaking beneath her bare foot, the spirit witch froze and glanced up, his eyes hardening as they flitted around the room. His mouth opened as he recited a silent spell, but Ravin's magic held and Marlin was grateful she had put hers up just in time.

His wouldn't have held up against the man's. The man was the second-most powerful spirit witch on Nefiir, preceded only by the witch that had recently taken up residence outside of Akar, and Marlin's spirit magic didn't hold up.

Ravin took a deep breath, visibly wanting to reach out to the men, to comfort them, but unable to do so. She shook her head again and turned to smile up at Marlin.

"You worry too much, my son. Give the man a little bit of credit. Even the worst, most vile monster in the world would bow in the face of a matebond."

"And you would bet everything on that? Even the lives of your family? Even his life?"

"I would give my soul for it," she replied with what looked like a carefree shrug, but Marlin knew differently, because he knew her better than he knew anyone. Even himself. "He'll prove himself before the end."

"You have more faith in mortals than I ever will," Marlin murmured, watching as the spirit witch turned his mate in his arms and tucked him up against his chest as the man finally began to calm from his night terror brought on by the evil the shifter had endured throughout his short life.

Ravin chuckled, her eyes dancing as she backed away, reaching out to grip Marlin's arm and tug until he followed her, each of their steps taking them farther from the cottage and the broken men inside it.

"Oh, poor Marlin. So ancient, but still so stupid," she teased, tucking his arm in hers and leading him through space until they were again before the teenage girl, the third the spirit witch would fight against with every breath until he had no choice but to accept her and all she was, and then Ravin was moving past her and her family, into a forest, through the trees, until they reached a dilapidated tower. It looked as if it had been built centuries before, with the stone crumbling with age, and the forest taking it back into its folds with vines and trees growing along its edges and right through it in some places.

With each step, she spoke, until they were at their destination. "Come, favorite child of mine. I have someone I would like you to meet. He lives just on the border between Akar and El'kahr, near the Sungrass tribe, and I've waited for his birth for nearly as long as you have."

Marlin stared in awe at the tower, his nostrils flaring as he caught the scent of... something. Something that smelled like... Like home. Like peanut butter and lemon drop candy. Like feathers and flight and air. Like freedom.

Marlin's ears perked at the sound of laughter and joy just as two boys playing among the crumbling rocks came into view. Neither was human; one was teenaged, nearly a man, and had the magic of death in his soul. The other was just a child. A child who ran after the elder with as much enthusiasm as any his age was capable, but with the limitation of a length of wood under each armpit, dragging along legs that were twisted and thin and moved only awkwardly, jerkily, as if they had formed wrong somehow. Not straight, not strong, but just barely enough so that they could carry his weight only with the assistance of the crutches. A child with wings and feathers and the sweet cry of a predator in his soul.

"Oh dear gods," Marlin murmured, taking two steps forward and falling to his knees as he watched the child cackle happily to his brother, who stopped and reached back to pull the younger boy up onto his back. He began to run, much to the delight of his younger brother, and their laughter echoed against the stones around them.

Marlin's entire being focused on the boys, on the way the small child's entire face lit up each time his brother dipped down and jumped back up. On the bright sound of their laughter, and the sweet sound of their words called out to each other in play.

Ravin's chuckle faded out as she disappeared in a whiff of musk and earth, her final words fading with each syllable until he had to strain his ears to hear them.

"He's not yours yet, my sweet son, won't be for at least a decade of years, but I trust you to keep him safe until then, and for the rest of your lives. He is my gift to you, and you my gift to him. You deserve each other more than I'm able to articulate. Love him, Marlin. He was made just for your big heart."

Just as Ravin's echoes faded, and Marlin was able to pull his eyes from the child who smelled like family and home, safety and love, he met eyes so dark a blue they were nearly black. Set on a stunning face, honey skin and full lips, a curvy, stout body, and hair as white as a swan's wings, the most powerful spirit witch in existence watched him with recognition, wariness, and acceptance.

Eyes that bore into him and seemed to see everything he didn't wish to lay bare.

Eyes that promised retribution if he harmed her charges. Her sons. The two boys who were now, and forever more, his family.

*****I hope y'all liked this one! Stick around for Asa, Hark, and Mem's story (coming soonish), Ash's (the woman at the very end) story, then Marlin's and a bunch more haha So much writing to do, so little time 😭*****