Tides

CHAPTER 13--Valeno

Valeno stood looking into empty air, and yet his palm rested on a cool surface that was somehow undetectable–except by the compass/tracker thingy.

"What are you?" Valeno asked, peering at the invisible wall and seeing nothing–not a scratch. Having a bolt of inspiration, Valeno clawed up a handful of dirt and mud and flung it out in front of him. Sure enough, the debris clung to the unseen surface in messy splotches, going as high as ten feet for some of the speckling. Whatever it was, it was big.

Valeno glanced at the tracker again, the red light dull, and realized with a bolt of shock that it was late afternoon. He wondered where Cassin thought he was and then wondered why he was thinking that Cassin would care. Turning, Valeno made to step away from the unseeable wall–

–And crashed into something else.

Another wall had sprung up out of nowhere.

Cursing, Valeno stumbled back, almost having broken his nose against the second wall. Feeling along it, he looked for a corner he could edge around. No luck.

The realization came to him much later than he would've liked: he was trapped between the two walls with no means of escape.

Cassin was worrying. Valeno had left the camp a bit before noon, and he hadn't come back. Where are you? Cassin thought in panic. Where was his werewolf?

Cassin had been pretending to sleep as Valeno walked out because he had been worried that the werewolf was looking for him to help him bathe. The prospect of seeing Valeno naked was both intriguing and terrifying, because what if Cassin couldn't control his body? What if–what if his body responded to Valeno's nakedness like how another male might respond to a female? The thought was appalling. Cassin wished he were brave enough to help Valeno when he asked about his bath, but he just couldn't.

It was too dangerous.

Cassin wished that he didn't find his charge attractive unlike the other Submissives. They did their jobs without the prospect of their sex organs swelling up at the sight of their naked charge. It was rather annoying.

But it wasn't entirely Cassin's fault. The werewolf was too handsome–too pretty; too gorgeous, too kind and too sweet for Cassin not to feel for him. It was a toxic relationship for sure. And it was one-sided. Cassin knew that Valeno would never feel the same toward him. In his eyes, they were barely friends–Cassin was his servant.

And still, Cassin's heart longed for more.

But now–now his Wolf was missing. And Cassin was going to find him.

He left the camp on the pretense of gathering water, but as soon as he was out of sight of the guards, he dropped his yoke and inhaled, trying to catch Valeno's scent on the breeze. The scent trail was faint, and it emanated from the back of the camp and veered in a northern direction.

Several months of being around the werewolf and smelling the redolence of his musky sweat gave Cassin just the edge he needed to track the fading scent-trail on the air. Cassin checked his position, then took off running. He ran for an hour at full speed before Valeno's scent curved westward, and he entered the beginning of an old part of the forest. Frogs called from a bog that Cassin veered around, and as he progressed, the trees got older and thicker, reaching with gnarled limbs high into the canopy.

The sun was fading when Valeno's scent grew strong and fresh and Cassin entered a grove of ancient trees. Immediately Cassin spotted Valeno in the center of the grove standing very still. "Valeno!" Cassin shouted, elated. His Wolf was ok!

Valeno said something back, sounding oddly muffled. The back of Cassin's neck prickled in alarm.

"What?" Cassin asked.

Valeno spoke again, this time sounding like he said Don't come any closer.

"Why? Come toward me," Cassin coaxed the werewolf.

"I can't."

"What? Why not?" Cassin stepped forward, wary of any dangers that might pop up at any time. Nothing came. He crept forward until he was inches away from Valeno before he realized something: he couldn't feel Valeno's breath on his face.

Slowly, disbelievingly, Cassin put up a hand–

–And touched a smooth cold surface. And then it came to him. Valeno was trapped on the other side of the barrier. 

Valeno's heart lifted when he saw Cassin. Maybe the vampire knew what this was. But Cassin didn't, and he stood on the other side of the wall, as helpless as Valeno in this situation. Discouraged, Valeno sat, and leaned his back against the barrier as the sun began to set, blanketing the forest in a black velvet covering. Cassin sat on the other side, facing Valeno. He was singing, but Valeno could barely hear him. He wished he could. Cassin's voice was just what he needed right now, telling him that it was going to be ok, and that he would get out of this frightening invisible prison.

The night wore on, and Valeno began to feel as if the walls were closing in on him. He hated feeling confined. Panicked, he jumped to his feet and began to pace back and forth in his prison.

"Valeno."

Cassin was speaking, talking loud enough for Valeno to hear.

"Breath with me, Valeno." Cassin placed his hands on the wall and Valeno mirrored his position on the other side. He took a deep breath, focusing on their hands in the dark. Cassin's were pale and slim, while Valeno's cracked nails and rough palms made the vampire's hands look like those of an angel. And then, as the hour approached midnight, something changed. The wall that was separating Valeno and Cassin–who were sitting again–vanished. Valeno, who had been leaning on the barrier, fell into Cassin's lap.

Suddenly limbs were clumsy appendages, that only tangled with each other. Valeno found himself straddling the vampire who had fallen back into the grass in surprise. His legs were wrapped around Cassin's, causing their hips to brush against each other. Cassin turned a lovely shade of crimson.

"Here, let me just–" Valeno pulled his hand from Cassin's and tried to ease away without brushing up against the vampire. It was an effort made in vain. His groin slid across Cassin's thigh, causing warm sparks of an oddly pleasurable sensation through Valeno's body. Now it was Valeno's turn to blush. "Let me–"

Valeno sat half way up. His shoulder bumped the vampire's, causing them to almost go over again. After a long minute of struggling, the two separated, only to have Cassin tackle Valeno in a huge hug, awkwardness pushed aside.

"Don't you ever leave the camp without me!"

Surprising himself, Valeno hugged him back, the gesture genuine, though it felt a little weird and intimate to hold the vampire after what just happened. "Let's go home," said Valeno softly, afraid that if he spoke any louder he would scare the vampire into letting him go. Valeno held Cassin's elegant body against his own and wondered why he didn't want to let go just yet. But Cassin was already pulling away.

"Well, your home," Cassin said, reminding the werewolf that Cassin belonged in a palace, with servants, instead of being a servant.

"I will get you out," Valeno promised, patting the vampire's shoulder. Touching him felt weird now, and calling him 'his little vampire' was out of the question now. It felt too...intimate. "But for now, let's get back to camp."

They set off running side by side. After an hour of sprinting, as they approached the camp, a familiar silhouette had Valeno pausing a good distance away from the entrance.

"Is that–?" Cassin breathed.

"Sshh!" hissed Valeno, frantic.

It was Jalno. He had returned.