Shadow Prince [BL]

chapter [16]

Dorian had recovered faster than expected but it had taken us the whole night and all of our available potions to get him into a stable condition.

No one had closed an eye for even a minute when the sun rose in the far east the next morning.

"We should go..." Dorian had come back to his senses even though his complexion was bad and his body language indicating he was still in pain. I observed him for a moment feeling strangely empty.

"How can we possibly do that?" I sighed and swallowed down the urge to cry again when that fairy prince cracked a smile as if it was the most beautiful day in the year.

"I'm doing fine and if we stay here any longer, we'd only be wasting time." He pushed himself up on wobbly legs so Ilayda stepped over to support him for a moment.

"I said I'm fine. I've been through worse" he snapped at the royal guard that took a deep breath and checked their surroundings.

"I don't want to admit it, but Dorian is right. I sense a weird type of energy coming from that mountain and it's getting worse everyday. If we miss our chance it might be too late to inform the royal army." She explained and the prince nodded along.

"Then go without me..." I looked at the ground and tried staying strong. It was better like this. The more time I spent with Dorian the higher the risk of something like yesterday happening again. It didn't even seem like he tried to avoid it so I had to be the one to draw the line.

"Vael..." Dorian reached out his hand to me but I immediately stepped back.

"I'm sorry but... please don't touch me. We should keep our distance from one another for the time being." I quietly said and avoided his gaze again. So pathetic... why couldn't I say this to him confidently?

"We don't have time for this. Vael, you will come with us. It doesn't sit right with me to leave you here." Ilayda suddenly grabbed onto my arm and shoved me to start walking.

"But-"

"Just promise you'll be extremely careful with Dorian from now on since he doesn't seem to care for his own health." She whispered for only me to hear and didn't leave me a chance to further complain.

"Perfect, let's go." Dorian didn't hesitate to close up to us and held onto my hand like he did before. I pulled away in panic but he didn't let go.

"Calm down, holding hands won't hurt me" he presented himself as if to show that he was fine but it was not in the slightest convincing.

"You almost died yesterday" I forced the words to come out of my mouth. "Don't you have any instinct to survive?" I seriously worried about him at this point. He knew exactly what he was doing yesterday... he knew what it might to do to him and yet he did never hesitate.

"Let that be my worry. I've lived for hundreds of years so you can trust that I'll live for at least another hundred." He winked at me and shifted his attention to the path ahead again. So he was avoiding the question... it was suspicious and I didn't like it.
Having lived for a hundred years without the ability to love must have been cruel... so it was likely he wanted to enjoy these new feelings no matter the cost. I couldn't say for sure but it would fit his actions so far.

Throwing his life away just to be with me? Wasn't that a little too self centered?

I let go of the thought and decided to also focus on the path again. It wouldn't take us long to reach the gate of the volcano's cave so we had to be prepared for anything.

But what awaited us there was nothing like what any of us imagined.

The path got wider and wider and led through a maze of trees until a large stone wall rose up in front of us. There was a giant gate carved into the mountain but its doors were wide open and severely damaged.