HORNS (BoyXBoy)

Chapter 147

Author's note: the previous three chapters have been updated with new writing. If you wish to re-read them but the changes aren't showing up, sign out then sign back in. That being said, sorry about the delay, I'm sick with another sinus infection and it's kicking my ass.

Enjoy the chapter.

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Chapter One Hundred and Forty Seven

It was like I was living in a dream. Nothing felt real aside from the pounding of my heart beneath the sound of Fauldun's hooves as he charged through the river and splashed water in every direction. I squeezed his human waist and my throat closed up with flutters of yearning and excitement, heart pounding as the music grew loud and clear.

The wigwams soon came into view, illuminated by the enormous bonfire, and I swore my chest constricted on instinct when my eyes landed on the Indian satyrs, who were already dancing wildly with each other and playing their panpipes in eerie, otherworldly harmony.

Harps strummed under the deft fingers of the nymphs, who were bathed in a pearlescent sheen under the firelight's licking glow. I raised my bucking body and leaned back, peering over Fauldun's shoulder, even though doing so meant trying to avoid smacking my chin on his head.

I spotted the drakes, who were postured before the biggest drums I'd ever seen and beating on them expertly with cloth-wrapped mallets. The reverberation from the wild percussions hit me in the stomach and chest with bass I'd never before experienced in person.

Even from the distance we were at, about ten yards away, I felt it deep. My tail fluffed up and the fur on my legs rose with an almost electric current as Fauldun carried Luka and I towards the party that had already begun. 

Most of the pixies were busy preparing the food they'd conjured, and those who weren't handling that were magicking wooden mugs of wine straight from barrels over to the wildly dancing hands of the satyrs. Much alcohol was spilled. All of the dancers were covered in sweat, male and female--jewelry of silver and gold gleamed on bare brown skin.

Well, all except Dari, who stood out thanks to his pasty freckled skin, ash-blonde curls, and husky blues.

Sasha was sitting with Svetlana, who was chugging wine while they talked, and the centaur kids, Darci and Bunty, were sitting together eating bowls of perfectly-prepared food, tails swishing while they yammered. Everyone looked up, however, when Fauldun howled.

"WE PARTY NOW!" he happily boomed, and everyone--literally everyone--started cheering, strumming, hollering, dancing, and playing their flutes. Luka smiled and pushed himself off of his best friend's wide back, twisting to snatch my wrist before I could get carried off. I was instantly jerked backwards, as Fauldun hadn't actually stopped moving, and I fell off him with a startled gasp, fully expecting to eat dirt or at least crack my head open. 

Instead, I landed in Luka's skinny arms and we somehow snagged horns. He buckled a bit under my weight, grunting as my left horn got caught under his right one, and he laughed at the absurdity as he tried to pull away and wound up dragging me with him.

"Agh, my horn!" I groaned. "It's stuck!"

"Luka know," he laughed, wriggling his head at a weird angle until, with a scrape, we freed ourselves. Once I had my hooves safely on the ground he squeezed my hand. He grinned at me and wiggled his ears, to which mine responded, flapping rapidly.

"That was different," I said, twitching as the drums began to beat behind me, eliciting unified, wild, untamed cries and screeches from the dancing satyrs behind me. "Riding on Fauldun's back, I mean. He's an incredible creature... you're a really lucky guy."