Gay Erotic Stories

Re-entering his home, Ari hugged himself, still shivering from the delicious sensations stirred into being by his last release. He despised the human frailty of the rabble, but by the same token he also despised the strengths of his own kind. Too much of which, he reasoned, was in itself a weakness. His hand toyed ceaselessly with the chained crystal, lying in the hollow of his throat. He longed to remove it, yet he dared not, though he did not yet understand why he wore it, or why it gave him such a warm sensation of power when he touched it. He hated the orthodox life he was forced to live, he hated his temple, and he hated most everything connected with his cold homeworld. He was punished often, and well, for his beliefs and many transgressions, but his hard young body had become well able to bear it all.....he would soon enough be dead if he could not. He decided that the first order of the waking would be to procure the warm fleecing undertunic and leggings made for him by the loving hands of his human maidservant, but not until he was certain he had seen the last of his parents for the waking. He looked around the austere, immaculate, and sparsely furnished foyer of his home, trying to imagine it as it once may have been in the past, and again thought about escaping his world and his life as a nomanic. He was certain there were many worlds habitable to his kind..... and he wished to explore every system until he found one. It was an enormous galaxy after all, according to the holographic maps on Lord Biron's teaching grid at the temple school on Arrelia, and Ari was certain that he would make a good explorer if only he could first make good his escape from his kind. Interstellar travel was flourishing judging by the additions being built onto the spaceport since the arrival of the Scorpians to their world, which Ari watched with great interest. According to public statistics there were legions of aliens coming and going every waking. There were also some who disappeared and never returned, their whereabouts never investigated, their abandoned families left grieving and impoverished, to be cared for by the ever growing world charity programs founded by benevolent, Malatar. There was something quite wrong there, he long ago decided. The boy tossed an errant white blonde curl from his fair, flushed face. His blue eyes, now the color of azure, sparked with untamed curiosity as he trudged the dreary length of the corridor toward the chamber occupied by his parents, while his brain pondered these things. More to the moment, however, he sorely missed the presence of his late sleeping human nursemaid, with her warm hands and ample bosom against which he had fallen asleep so often. He could waken her now, she wouldn't mind, but no, he would see his duty to his parents done for the waking, and would still have more than enough time with her brood of rowdy youngsters, and then the time would belong to him and to Scipi, Hali's youngest son. He grinned, thinking of the adventures they would this day share. His footsteps stopped at the entrance of his parents' chamber. He took a deep breath as he pre- pared for the inevitable confrontation with them. He disliked having to face the two pallid creatures who gave him life, feeling as alien in their presence as any xenomorphic outworlder. The wafer of energy producing nutrients he consumed in their presence were tasteless and unappetizing.....just as they were supposed to be and left his hungry belly empty and uncomfortable, hardly interfering with the penitential state of his existence at all. "It is not for the gratification of our senses that we take nourishment, my son." He was often admonished gently by his veiled mother in her soft monotone. "It is the lot of our kind to suffer and endure the hardships of self deprivation. You must be brave, and endure what you must for the atonement of your sins in the Eyes of the Light." Sins indeed! For young Ari all laws were made to be broken, and he enjoyed too thoroughly the sticky honeyed delicacies smuggled to him daily by the doting Hali. The human scoffed at the very idea of any child going hungry for any reason, let alone the configuration of his DNA.. Preposterous! Ari grew so big, and developed so fast that his naive parents marveled. He stood straight and tall and carried himself with a forbidden inborn pride that would have done credit to a human family. He was beautiful as a godling with eyes so blue they seemed to probe the depth of the soul, with pupils that were deep and dark, the magnificent starburst, surrounded by the stunning blue of his iris. This unusual phenomenon was extremely disconcerting to anyone who chanced eye contact with him. His physical perfection was absolute and flawless from the top of his curly white blonde head to the soles of his feet…or nearly so. On his broad back, the boy bore two shapeless splotches, lying directly over each scapulae. To the unwary, uneducated eye, these marks could have been mistaken for bruises or merely shadows beneath his pale flesh......but these same brands, said the Eugenics committee within the temple on Arrelia, were, combined with the strangely malformed pupils of his eyes, was unalterable proof of genetic contamination by an ancient, deadly bloodline. These birthmarks by themselves, the Elders declared, were a portent of disaster for his people and for the world on which they lived. The dreaded marks of the Avenger had not surfaced in a male child for centuries, though female children of the Titan line were born with the phenomenon infrequently and immediately consigned to the 'cradle of ice' in the Ru'ulian wilds. Neither the priests, nor the Eugenics committee could do more than speculate from whence had come the damning brands which marred the perfection of their perfect male child....but, since he was male, the committee disagreed when the legality and morality of ending his life came into discussion. In the end, he was spared, with some indecision on the part of the Council of Ten, and the objections of a few of the Elders..... He was to be allowed life. The decision stood, and when he reached the age of six he was issued his power crystal, and told to use it wisely. "I bid you welcome, and good morrow, my son......" His mother, pale, drawn, and ethereally lovely, raised her veiled head. Her blue eyes took in the sight of her son, and she caught her breath at the impact of his beauty. Ari was her first child and would be her last. He was her fault and her failure. Yet, she loved him. "Good morrow, mother......" Ari ventured, realizing he had never in his six passings of life seen the color of his mother's hair, nor touched her hand. He cared not that females were considered unclean. He realized he adored her and sensed her emotion for him. "He grows too quickly," His father commented, regarding him with cold pale eyes. The sight of his son on this particular waking made the chill of the room seem to penetrate deeper. Something dreadful reared its ugly head, filling the heart of Lucare Peacemaker with doom. "And more than that, the Elders are afraid of him...and for him. I believe they will order him into one of the subcloisters soon." "Good morrow to you also, my father." He growled softly, his pale fingers absently fingering the glimmering crystal which pulsed against his throat. He could feel it building power as his rage mounted....perhaps someday he would give them all something tangible to fear. Ari's fair brow furrowed. He detested the way his parents and the others spoke of him as though he were not present, or worse a complete non-entity who was unworthy of their recognition. Many times Lucare Peacemaker left unvoiced the suspicion that his manchild was receiving forbidden nourishment....but the thought of having to discipline the human, 'shrike', as paranomanic 'cotters' were often called by the human populace, and who had cared for the boy from the moment of his birth, was abhorrent to his kindly soul. Lucare also loved the human crone who had also been his nursemaid, and recalled with much guilt his childish gratitude and acceptance of her well meaning tamperings when he was too young to comprehend just WHY nomanic diet should be so restricted. HE turned out alright...so would his son. "May the Light forbid it, and moreover I forbid it!" The soft tone of Emar Peacemaker's voice broke into his thoughts. "I cannot and will not sanction our son being forced into the cloister or one of the subcloisters. He must be allowed to grow and learn. I sense he is special, for all that he is a bit rambunctious at times. He is as a god given to us in noman form to be nurtured to the best of our abilities. He cannot be sacrificed to the sterile con- fines of our Temple." Ari could scarcely believe his ears. Was his mother defending his life? Was she braving the wrath of her husband and the council by speaking on his behalf? "Whatever are you saying, woman?" Never had the noman lord heard his wife speak thus out of turn. He had never heard ANY female speak her mind in that fashion for that matter, except one....and that one, unfortunately, was not under his protection or his roof. "Nonsense, woman.........you have no opinion. You will be silent." "All I am saying, husband, is we have no right legally or morally to consider allowing our bloodline to cease just because a few crotchety old men and spineless young sensitives are affrighted by tales of history past. That young man who is our own son has the potential to turn this world, maybe even the galaxy upside down!" "You will stay your tongue, woman, else you could be disciplined." Lucare ventured, having never had the occasion to have to reprimand his wife in the past. Lucare and Ari both watched in horror as she slapped her delicate hand down hard on the table. "Did not the Eugenics committee say that he was special? A throwback, possibly, to the 'old ones?" Lucare Peacemaker raised his hand to silence her. "I believe that the word the committee used in truth was, 'dangerous', and yes, he could be a throwback to those terrible creatures." The noman crossed himself in haste to ward off the evil he could almost see emanating from the childish face of his young son whose very birth seemed like a harbinger of something far worse coming.. "AND did we not see in the black heavens a fire tail when the heir of Culpranes appeared like a beautiful beast from nowhere?" Emar continued. "I tell you, my husband, trouble is afoot and we must prepare for it!" Lucare Peacemaker stared at Ari for a long moment, pondering the words of his wife, wondering ......What if the young life of his son was somehow fated to become intertwined with that of the alien heir to their system? A frightening thought. Without lending voice to more of his fears, Lucare attempted to return to the formality of the breaking of morning bread. His son WAS vastly different from other nomanic young- lings his age. He seemed older and then young by turns, a trait common among 'adepts' of the temple, which was frightening enough for any parent, but he was preoccupied by man thoughts, and quite dissatisfied with his lot in life. Just as he, himself, had been at his age...and he turned out alright, had he not? "You may go, my son." Lucare told Ari, handing him the thin wafer of Holy sustenance. Ari popped the morsel into his mouth, truly wishing at times that he had been remorselessly exposed during snow fly beyond the gates of the temple in the 'cradle of ice'. For a moment he could actually visualize himself lying helpless and naked in the stinging snow, awaiting the fangs of the scavengers which would wreak final justice on his imperfect flesh. Not for the first time that waking he wished he had gone first to Hali for a taste of honey- paste and fresh baked bread, and a long drink of warmed elac milk. He nearly choked on the dry, tasteless wafer as he backed hurriedly from the hateful presence of his parents. "I thank you for the sustenance of my body and for my life...." He said quietly to his mother, then turned and fled down the corridor toward the cotter's quarters and the kitchen. His thoughts were now on food in plenty..... and of pleasure, hopefully in that order. His classes at the temple school on Arrelia were completely forgotten. End of Chapter I comments to doranIIl@aol.com copyrighted material CHAPTER II "Where to?" Ari asked, grinning, as he walked into Hali's kitchen. Her son Scipi sat be- fore the fire with his jaws stuffed so full that a sticky dribble of syrup ran from the corner of his mouth. Ari felt his salivary glands respond to the stimulus of the sight. "Give me a bite, pray!" He extended his hand, and the extra cone Scipi held prang into it as though it were alive and eager to be devoured by him. "Hey, milkface, that wasn't fair!" Scipi growled, as he handed Ari his half full cup of elac milk, all the while, pretending to be unimpressed by Ari's use of his power. "I'll have my choice of "where to's', but you, my mystical friend, are off to school......" He took another cone, piled butter-wax deep into it, and grinned between bites. "Mayhap, I'll spend my whole day wallowing with one of them pretty Elonian boys from down by the canal....or......" He rolled his black eyes with the suggestion of something too wonderful for description, and looking for all his absence of horns , like a living satyr up to his nads in some pleasurable mischief. Ari gulped the contents of his cup gratefully, and reached for a wac'l egg boiled in oil. "Shut your mouth and listen to me!" He said between bites. "My parents are going offplanet again....to a world has two real suns and the beings are all brown and may actually walk about without sandals." The fair boy closed his eyes trying to imagine such a thing, but could not get a clear image because his world was drab and grey and covered even on the warmest wakings with frost. "They will be gone a full time cycle this time. Know what that means?" The older boy swallowed hastily and smiled at his young friend. "And while they're at their studies.........." Scipi raised his cup in a mischievous toast. "we could take our own little trip to many interesting places right here in the City, eh?" His satiric grin broadened. "We could even go to see the arena which is under construction inside the domed sector." Maybe, he thought, we may even meet a gladiator or two, mmmmmmm. The two boys could get into a lot of pleasurable mischief in sixteen unsupervised days, and the arena was a great place to start. "Uh, uh." Ari answered, frowning. "leave the arena for some other waking. I want to visit the house of Mer'dath!" "Ho, slow down, will you, boy!" Scipi nearly choked at the mention of the most notorious brothel in the red lamp district of the domed sector....it was also very far from their home. His hooked nose wrinkled in thought....but, it was rumored, the house of Mer'dath had some of the finest imported ass in the galaxy, human, and alien. Already the features of the 'shrike' boy had begun to sharpen with burgeoning man- hood. His upper lip even held the shadowy promise of blue/black hair and his creamy pale flesh was now quite free of pubescent blemish. He was not tall, and would never be, but he was beautifully proportioned, with the strength and agility of a gladiator. "And just HOW do you propose we manage to escape the sharp eye of my witch mother to do this? Do you not know that I will be hided for such an offense, and that's not even to say what the priests of the temple will do to me. And you?" Scipi blanched perceptively. "Why, the Master of Discipline would flay you alive for even thinking such a thought! " Ari grinned sardonically, baring perfect white teeth.... " And he would develope apoplexy if he knew what I did with my consecrated hands beneath my sheets every sleep- time, and waking, too. But that does not stop me from doing it. So, are we away or no...." The older boy nearly choked with laughter, trying to visualize the look of horror upon the pious faces of the noman priests if they were to be confronted with the spectacle, of one of their most revered bloodlines frenziedly masturabating his sacred tool and howling like a hebeast in rut. "Besides, you said you would take me to the domed sector sometime! You promised. You can guide me to Mer'dath's or by the Light I will find my own way!" Ari continued, his fair brows knit. He did not like being the butt of any other beings' laughter....much less, that of his only real friend. His blue eyes took on a decided glimmer that made his young face seem much older and jaded by dissipation and vice. Scipi stopped laughing abruptly, and passed his hand before his eyes....many nomanics were damned spooky, sometimes, and young Ari was probably one of the more adept at mind trickery."Loz, but you forget nothing! The house of MER'DATH? Where in sheol did you get such an idea? You wouldn't know what to do with a female if one sat upon your face!" He again collapsed in hysterical laughter at the very thought of the pure and consecrated young noman in such a predicament. The fair youth leaned forward . "Let it suffice you to know that I DO know what to do with females.I KNOW the house of Mer'dath, and I know the purpose of such places." Proof of his words was standing firmly erect and straining against his smallclothes. "I've enough manmeat to stuff the belly of any rutting she-beast on this world." This dark drive, which he still did not yet fully comprehend, was maddening and taxed his every waking hour. Many times he could concentrate on nothing else. Scipi's black eyes widened incredulously as he regarded the bulging front of Ari's small- clothes. "You must be a veritable Jag'an-ath!" He commented in disbelief at the size. The phallic proportions of the father of all scorpians was so great that it could not be accomo- dated by any by the dragoness, Quali-ma. It was said she gave birth to a thousand young as the result of her virginal coupling with the beast. His own anatomy could hardly compare in size to that of his young companion for all his age and actual experience, both with the opposite sex, and the many 'modern' boys his age who attended the academy. He ran his strong fingers through his jet black, tightly curling hair. At 14 Scipi was hand- some and quite well developed for his age. As the son of a 'cotter' he could look forward to making the spacer's academy with a monetary grant from the noman temple within the next few passings. That is, unless he got caught doing something very, very stupid, thereby voiding his grant. "I was born a man," Ari continued only half jokingly. "No silly ritual cutting will make me more of one than I am now." He reached into the front of his garment and pulled out his member for his friend to examine. Scipi looked incredulous. "So, you have no foreskin." He commented smugly, "That's utterly ridiculous. Are you sure you weren't cut after you were born?" "Uh, uh. It's clean as a bone. You know we don't have our ritual cuttings until after puberty." Ari laughed, waggling his mantool in his friend's direction. "Want to touch it?" Scipi doubled over with laughter, though his mouth fairly watered for a taste of the boy's proud tool. "No, magnifico, I have the feeling I may be in enough trouble by the end of the day without adding a death charge to my punishment." He placed his heavily booted feet on the stone floor. "But, one thing is for certain, I'm going to have to see that monster in action, swaggart." Afterwards, Scipi reasoned, they could always go to one of the local sineaters of the City for con fession. One method of ridding oneself of ones' sins was as good as another in a pinch. It would certainly be better than being stripped of their hides beneath the whips of the nomanic Master of Discipline....and it would keep them well shy of the temple grounds for awhile. Just outside the high gate of their home, the two boys watched with mounting unease as a sin eater was chased down and stoned in the street, no one daring to intervene, lest the sins it had eaten spill from it's vile mouth onto them when it entreated them for succor. Frightened when it ran at them, the two boys began to run, wondering why the creature had dared venture out of it's hovel, and why it had ventured so far into the noman sector. By the time they stopped running they found themselves quite near the parade route taken by the planetary heir to the throne and could clearly hear the fanfare of the trumpets and the harsh calls of the vendors as they hawked their wares from the decks of the reeking canal and narrow walkways.They could even see the beginning glitter of Malatar's entour- age.The progress of the procession was marred only by the iciness of the stones beneath the feet of the bearers which made footing hazardous. Many people along the route began removing their sandals, waving them over their heads as proof of their loyalty to the alien heir of Culpranes. A sleepy eyed Malatar parted the glittering curtains of it's litter just in time to catch a glimpse of the beautiful boy standing among the rabble and the urchins of the street. His pale whitegold hair was tossed and disarrayed by the cold wind, and wisped against flesh that was pale as newfallen snow. Malatar gripped the curtains with hands that ached to feel the softness of those curls slip through it's fingers like respun gold. But it was his eyes that held and mesmerized Malatar, and ignited an open flame of desire that would eventually burn the alien nearly to a cinder for the rest of it's wakings. This boy, Malatar decided, could easily be the most beauteous being in the cosmos, male or female. A big strapping lad....a sturdy child.... The scorpian also sensed inside him a weakness, perhaps, or a leaning toward the darkness that could be carefully cultivated and nurtured. The boy, no matter what race, could be valuable to Malatar when it became Korazon and assumpter of the throne of it's sire. "Guards!" Malatar shrieked, bringing them running instantly. "There was a boychild with golden hair! Bring him to me at once!" First I will try him for treason, it thought, for he did not wave his sandals above his head as I passed. Malatar's golden eyes scanned the milling crowd, trying to locate him again. The boy had disappeared as though he had never been there at all. "Search the streets and bring me any child with light hair! Hurry, dolts, lest he eludes you!" Malatar could now sense his disappearance was guided by someone, it could not get the proper feeling for whom. He was, perhaps, accompanied by another child, perhaps one who was a bit older, and had deliberately barriered his mind against it. Now it groaned in an agony of longing....that hair! Those strange blue eyes. Quali save us all from those eyes, it thought. Scipi grabbed his young friend suddenly and dragged him headlong back into the thick of the crowd. He was not certain just WHY he became frightened when he did, but deep inside he was terrified. "What the...." Ari cried, trying to shake loose the iron grip that held him and dragged him along. He stumbled, nearly falling. "Dammit, Scipi! What's the matter with you?" He ran swiftly, had to, or he would have been dragged for sure. He could barely keep pace with the older boy, though, normally he was at least his equal at racing and other sports. Scipi held his arm in a vice like grip. Breathless, he finally pulled Ari into a dark doorway and down a flight of rickety steps. "I don't know what's the matter!" Scipi panted, his black eyes large and glittering in the dark. "But I DO know that I don't like the way the Scorpian looked at you!" "HOW did it look at me?" Ari cried, squaring off at his companion. "I did not notice any- thing amiss in the way it looked at me..." Scipi's hand suddenly shot out, cupping Ari's mouth to muffle further complaints as he heard sounds of a scuffle, of the entrance to the street being opened. The light from a vapor torch flooded the darkness around them and both boys hugged the wall in desperation. When the door was safely closed again, Ari shook Scipi's hand off roughly, and balled his fists. "This is the first time we have had a chance to get a glimpse of the Scorpian, and you have to ruin it for me!" He actually felt like punching the older boy. "It is pretty like a girl! Did you see those breasts?" Scipi shook his head. "But it's NOT a girl, my mother says it has manparts, too. Listen, Ari, I FELT something inside when it was looking at you. Something like, when you see the gut- worms working inside a dead thing. Rotten. I don't think it noticed me, I barriered my mind against it, but you...." He shivered, not for the first time wondering if he may not be devel- oping Light Powers by his close association with the nomanic...and he was truly fearful for for the safety of his young friend. "I am sorry." Ari said, lowering the treatening fist in shame. He knew enough to understand that instances of paranamanic ESPers were fairly common among the cotter class. "Let's get out of here and head for Mer'dath's. There is always tomorrow for getting a look at Malatar. Maybe we don't have to look at it at all. Maybe there is a Scorpian in bondage at Mer'dath's we can look at." Scipi eyed Ari and grinned. "You are not going to lie with it, if there is, are you?" Ari turned to him and said. "NOTHING with manparts is going to get anywhere near MY backside!" "Here." Scipi said, chuckling at the mention of scorpian sexual preferences. He tossed Ari a tattered shawl scrounged from beneath the broken down cot where someone had been sleeping until recently. "Let's cover that shiny head of yours up before we go out again." Something terrible had happened in that place and he wished to be out of there very soon. Ari eyed him like he had gone mad all of a sudden, but placed the shawl around his head anyway. "There, now I look just like a girl!" He growled. "Is that what you want? You better not be turning 'modern' on me." Joking about it was one thing, but doing it was not a joking matter in Ari's book. "No, magnifico. I just feel a bit easier with that bright head of yours not so easily spotted in a crowd." He grasped Ari's arm and turned him. "Don't you FEEL anything?" The young lord of light regarded his 'shrike' sullenly."I sense things, all of my kind do, but I allow myself to feel naught. Let's go from here, it truly is an evil place." Scipi stuck his head out the door and scanned both ends of the walkway bordering the canal. Several operatives of the scorpian Krypteia, or Secret Service, had just crossed the ramp some distance away, which meant their hideous, genetically engineered helpers, called 'grunts' by the populace, would be somewhere nearby. For the moment, at least, they appeared to have safe passageway out of the cellar. "C'mon, girlie, let's go..........." "Where are we going now? Blast it, Scipi, I want to go to Mer'Dath's......" Scipi turned to face the younger boy, wishing he had not allowed himself to be led so easily into such a dangerous adventure. "I want, I want, I want! Alright! Blast you for the spoiled brat you are! We are going to scratch that itch of yours or die in the trying!" He shouted, darting the rest of the way up the stairs where he stopped short. The two boys found their path blocked by a pair of long shadows looming before them. The younger, more sheltered Ari, froze in his tracks, petrified at the sight of such abominable ugliness. He had never seen a 'grunt' before in his life, never wanted to, but sure enough, one stood less than a meter from his eyes, grinning a nightmare grin. "Llllllord of Light......." Ari stammered, his blue eyes rounding like scorpian credit disks. "Light of the world." "Guess again." Scipi commented. "The Light had very little to do with the creation of these nasties." Though he tried to turn and run, he found it was already too late. "What, ho!" The biggest "grunt" laughed in a most disconcerting manner, pinning Scipi's arms behind him and shoving him facefirst against the wall, all the time, eyeing Ari's white blonde curls. "What have we here, a 'shrike' and his missy?" The other had Ari dangling over the rickety railing, his hand groping his sinroot beneath his tunic, and exclaiming in excitement at the size of the youngster's tool kit. "Now, what would such a pretty pair of boys be doing down here in the dark?" The biggest asked, fingering Scipi's tight boyhole. "Let's see...." His coarse gnarled finger jammed in deep, wringing a strangled groan from the boy's throat. No doubt there was enough juice in these two younglings to spark the response of a stone column...and the blonde child being held by the other was certainly NOT Ru'ulian, whose young often had light hair but always had dark eyes. Both were certain the pale, pretty boy was the very one for whom the Scorpian searched so avidly. Well, they decided, it would possess him only after they had some fun with the two of them first. "Loz!" Scipi groaned, as the large, slimy tool of the semihuman familiar of the Krypteia was shoved deeply into him.....Truly the two boys were in for it now. No one would ever hear them screaming down in the deserted cellar, and even if someone did, they would be too frightened to intervene. They would in time be turned over to Malatar, probably more dead than alive, depending on the strength of their struggles. Unable to do anything else, Scipi did the only thing he could to save their lives, he relaxed and took the pummeling of the monster cock, trying to stay conscious. The other, still fondling Ari as he watched the human boy being reamed by his counterpart, loosed his own codpiece for the sport and guided his tool between the white mounds of the boy's firm ass. Suddenly the younster bounced free and exploded out from under him as though he had been greased for competition. "C'mere, blondie!" The "grunt" laughed, grabbing futilely for the agile youngling who moved at an incredible speed, and almost seemed wraithlike as he slipped through his hands and up the stairs. Having waited for his assailant to finish, Scipi swung about with a startling shriek of rage at the attack on the noman his kind was sworn to protect. He hurtled, backside hanging out, to the top of the stairs and out the door, looking for Ari. The 'grunts' charged after them blindly. Once in the open, Scipi threw himself bodily forward, tumbling the closest of their two pursuers head over heels into the stinking, churning water of the canal. Ari, still fighting, followed the lead of his human friend, nearly deballing the other with his knee, nearly following him into a watery grave when a section of planking collapsed under his feet. He rolled, back on his feet in an instant, and ran headlong after Scipi. Neither 'grunt' would survive in the disease ridden water for more than a few seconds, even if they were not immediately pulled under by the voracious denizens of the depths. The boys also knew they need not fear search parties. The 'grunts' would never be missed, being mass produced and expendable. Panting, Ari slowed his steps. "You know you saved my ass back there, don't you?" He said, ducking into the shelter of a doorway with the agility and expertise of an experienced child thief of the city. "Yeah." Scipi groaned. "Literally." Both boys looked around, trying to assess their location. To become lost now would be disastrous. "Out through the gate! There!" Ari shouted, pointing to the city gates and barely able to conceal his excitement. Scipi looking bewildered, stood rubbing his aching backside. "Uh, I hate to tell you this, magnifico, but THAT gate leads outside the walls...to the wasteland. My ass is sore. I want to go home!" "Exactly why you shouldn't go home," Ari grinned. "Look, Scipi, I'm sorry you got hurt, but running home so your mama can find out what we been up to isn't the best idea you ever had. You know she won't approve of your 'modern' activities." "But, you don't understand, Ari....There are predators outside the city gates what will eat us if they catch us. Besides, I thought you wanted to go to Mer'dath's and get futtered!" Trodding resolutely toward the wall, Ari turned to say. "There is a thing I am more scared of than predators. It is a thing I wish to see even more than madam Mer'dath herself. Com- pared to this, a predator doesn't even seem frightening." Scipi blinked stupidly. Nothing frightened him any more than running into another pair of'grunts' out in the open with no weapon and no place to hide. "Wait a minute, will you?" The older boy wanted no part of the frozen, forbidding wasteland outside the gates of the city. He wanted no more than a soft pillow, a warm bath in front of a roaring fire, and a cup of hot cider to warm his belly and calm his nerves. At the moment, he wanted no more than his mama. "Ok, okay...." Ari acquiesced finally. "Let's be off to Mer'dath's house of delight." "Going somewhere boys?" The two boys, turned wide eyed to stare at the two Templars from the Temple of Noman on Arrelia who had been following them since their escape from the cellar. "Shyte!" Scipi breathed, hastily crossing himself. "Well, futter me running............" Ari said in a fit of fury at their being apprehended so soon. Comments: DoranIIl@aol.com