The Problem with Forever

The Secrets that You Keep - Part I

//AN: Pic is a rough depiction of Den in the water fall.//

60,009 years ago...  

Beginning of Story

Being alone, Den decides, is rather boring.

He's gotten used to having Eilon tag along in the last ten thousand years. Not having the Lescaean by his side is... strange.

But he was running low on Kracian money and didn't feel like tapping into his own fortune to replenish the funds, so he needed to take a job. It's just bad timing that he got one while Eilon was sick.

The poor child. Den isn't sure if he's amused or sympathetic, and doesn't really care. Eilon is back at the cabin with Katrine fawning all over him, and Den is slogging through the muck and the rain by himself, dragging Ian Reos along by a shock of dirty hair.

The job itself took less than ten minutes--it's not as if a pathetic little human bandit would be any trouble for Den.

Unfortunately, he wasn't given the exact location of the place he's supposed to take the bandit, which means he can't just portal to it. Hence, he's trudging through the elements, bored to tears and rather frustrated.

He knows that Lord Wyon's estate is somewhere in these mountains, but where exactly is another matter entirely. He could just listen for it, and has been, in fact--but there are several settlements in this range and Den has no idea which one he's looking for, so he'll have to search them all. It shouldn't take him longer than a day or two to find it, but still.

A day or two is more time and effort than Den De'nerian puts into just about anything.

At the moment, he's just about a mile from the nearest settlement, and he's frustrated enough that he contemplates stopping there for the night. It seems to be a resort of some sort--a hot springs, if the scents are any indication--and that sounds rather wonderful at the moment.

Den could use a nice long soak in a hot spring.

He just hopes they have a place he can dump Reos, or he'll have to drag him along too. Den doesn't particularly want to give the filthy bandit leader a soak in a hot spring.

He could always put him in a cage of his own making, of course. But that might draw undue attention.

When he comes out of the trees--after trekking up a ridiculously slanted, rocky slope--he finds himself on a flat plateau made up of manicured gardens and small, wealthy looking huts strategically placed in a wide circle.

At the center of the circle is a larger building, and Den can smell the steam coming from it. He can almost feel it, and finds himself grinning in anticipation.

Now, what to do with Reos...?

The man fell unconscious after the third time Den 'accidentally' let him bang into a protruding tree root or rock, and is now bleeding through the mud and stains on his clothes and skin. Perhaps Den was a bit rough... but he's been frustrated for hours.

And it's not like the human is dead. Den was careful to ensure that much, at least.

Den clicks his tongue and looks around. This place is obviously for wealthy nobles who have nothing better to do with their time, and he doubts they have a place to lock up bandits. They probably just kill them and dump them over the cliff on the other side.

Den sighs. He supposes he could do this the easy way and just tie the mortal to a tree. But that feels so...unguarded. And simple.

He is just a human, though. And Den can easily set up a field around him so he'll hear if the mortal so much as jerks in his sleep.