It had been four days since they left for the encampment. They walked from the early morning to the late evening. Unlike the humans, Ari's legs never bothered him. The heat from the sun and the cold of the night were nonexistent. However, his need for sleep persisted. Ari had not slept a wink. He could not in the presence of many that would do him harm if he lowered his guard.

The sun peeked out from the trees as Ari tried to follow closely behind Freir. Another person stood behind him and to the side of him as well, stopping him from catching up to Freir and set more distance between them. Ari tugged his hands growing terribly uncomfortable with the situation but moreover for the ropes bound around his wrists in front of him. He could feel them digging into his skin now. Ari looked around again, noticing the glances and silent words being passed with eyes he did not know the meaning of. When he tried to tug at the ropes again, one came and put a dagger to his throat, causing Ari to instinctively raise his head away from it.

"Do not think to try anything. Nolan had given us strict orders on what to do if you did try something and they are not so lenient as they used to be," one of the men said. His breath carried the stench of morning and meat. There were drops of blood spotting his black beard and a repugnant odor coming from him that Ari could not ignore.

The other one laughed and hit his arm. "Leave him be. He is still Nolan's favorite, after all." His bony hand slipped down his arm before he spared Ari a malicious glance with a matching smirk to go with it.

Ari felt more like a prisoner being escorted back to his prison cell than anything else. He did not care for Nolan and his words. However, it was Freir that worried him. He would have never done this and used his trust for him against him. No, not even for his own life. Even as thoughts such as those sifted through Ari's mind, Ari could not help but feel some sense of betrayal.

"Fr--"

"Quiet," the man with the bloody beard said to him, "or I'll gag ye myself."

Freir was further ahead and Ari did not like the distance set between them. Ari muscled his distaste of the situation down and did his best to ignore the two men. He walked in silence until a bony hand pressed against his shoulder, causing Ari to look at the man smiling at him with narrowed eyes. The man traced his hand down to his waist and pulled out one of Ari's daggers. He found a few more and dropped them to the ground.

"Anymore we should know about?"

Ari did his best to suppress the glare in his eyes threatening to surface, but it was in vain. The moment he felt his cold fingers on his skin, Ari elbowed him in his throat. The man wheezed and fell onto the ground and Ari watched as the man struggled for air. When the other man came, Ari ducked when he swung at him with a dagger. It nicked his arm. The man came at him again. This time he grabbed Ari by the collar and swung him to the ground.

Quickly, Ari reached for one of his daggers on the ground. The man grabbed his legs and yanked him back just as he grabbed the hilt of it. He flipped Ari over onto his back. Before he could straddle him, Ari kneed in between his legs and kicked him away until he fell onto the ground. Ari took this time to work on the rope tied around his wrists before any more would come and misunderstand.

Ari rose as soon as the ropes were uncut, but the man grabbed him by one of his ankles and pulled him back down.

"You will pay for this, you damned demon." Ari kicked him in the face twice. When his boot connected with the man's face again Ari heard a crunch. The man laid lifeless on the ground as well as the other one. Ari took in a deep breath and walked onward. No matter Ari's reluctance, he could not possibly think to leave without first understanding Freir and his intentions. He also had his questions he wanted to be answered before he went anywhere.

Multiple running pairs of feet made it to his ear, causing Ari to break out into a run. Ari looked behind himself and saw the men with the emblems at the center of their uniforms. They carried those same weapons he had seen before. Before they could catch up, Ari caught up to Freir and pressed himself against him as the men and women surrounded them.

"What is this?"

Freir looked at Ari first before looking at the men growing closer. Ari squeezed him tighter.

"He was escaping. We are only following orders," a woman said.

"You will not harm him. He had done nothing wrong."

One man looked to a woman before saying, "two of our men are dead back there."

"He was defending himself! He would never harm anyone intentionally unless it was for such a reason."

They took another step closer to them, causing Freir to unsheath his sword. "Not another step. Nolan charged me with bringing him back. You all are merely a safety precaution. Do not overstep your boundaries. Stand down."

The man bowed his head and with one circular motion of his fingers, the others followed him back into the surrounding forest.

Ari backed away from Freir once they all were gone. Freir tried to reach for him, but Ari backed further from him. As if knowing where he would go next, Freir managed to grab him and wipe the bit of blood that splattered onto his face. Ari closed his eyes and frowned in distaste of this all. Ari knew Freir always had the best in mind for him, but Ari could not come to think in such a way in this moment.

"I told you... did I not... I want you to be happy and if that happiness is not here... Look at me, boy." Ari opened his eyes and did as was told. "If that happiness is not here... you would always have a place in my heart. I love you dearly and I would not dare let someone lay a hand on you again... If I did not come, someone far worse would have come and dragged you back by force. I did not want that to happen. I did not, so I came."

Ari lowered his eyes feeling guilty for ever doubting such a man who spent the majority of his life caring for him. The scar across his eye said enough. Living and being around blood demons had made him become skeptical and mistrusting of everything. Not everything was as it seemed and Ari did not want to be fooled again.

"Forgive me. I did not mean to doubt you... " Ari mumbled.

"No, doubt me. Doubt everything. Question it. That is good. You should not believe everything that is being told to you. Analyze the information and come to a conclusion yourself."

"I should have never doubted you. Not you... of all people... "

"So listen closely to my words now, Ari. Do not try to run or escape when we get back. Wait until the most opportune time comes. Until then, make do with this situation. Will you promise me this?"

Ari nodded, causing Freir to smile. "You have always listened to me well... But I must get used to when you do not."

"I should not have left you like that and in that way... "

"No, do not cater to me and my selfish desires to have you close to me. You are no longer in need of me and my protection. I recognized that a long time ago, but I had not come to terms with it until then. It is as you had always said it was. You are no longer a boy and I should stop treating you as such," Freir said as he started walking again.

Ari licked his lips and followed beside him in silence. He did not know what else to say to him or rather how much to share with him without the fear of gaining his disappointment. Instead, Ari thought to make small talk to clear the air between them.

"How is Rein?"

"He is faring well. I had not seen much of him in recent days... "

"You had another argument?"

"No, nothing of that sort. Our arguments tended to stem from his jealous tendencies with you, whether he would like to admit to it or not."

"Then why are you... " Ari had already pieced it together before he could finish his sentence. It was Nolan and it was one of the most sacred rules that governed them that they had broken. But why punish them now when they had been like that for what seemed like a lifetime? Ari was sure Nolan knew of them and their relationship. Ari wanted to ask but he already knew the answer. He wet his lips again and kept his eyes trained ahead.

"It is because of me. Because I had gotten out of hand and because I had escaped. He punished you this way because he could not kill you. You are the only thing tethering me here, after all. So now he has sent you out to fetch me under the threat that he would do me harm if you had not."

"You pieced that together quite well on your own."

"Nolan is a manipulative conniving liar. What makes him think I would ever want to go back there when he used me for all these years and plans to use me again?"

"Ari, Nolan is many things... but there are things you do not know and understand just yet."

"And you defend him?"

"That demon that you are with. He plans to use you as well. What is the difference between them or are you deciding which is the lesser evil instead? If you turn your back to Nolan for these reasons, you must turn yours to that demon whom you attached yourself to."

"There are reasons--"

"As there must be reasons for why Nolan had done the things he has done, yet you are so easy to dismiss him, unlike that demon." Ari took in a deep breath." Keep an even head and learn what you must. Do not run away from it. Face it. Do this, and you will see all that needs to be seen and known."

Freir turned to him and held each side of his face with his hands.

"I love you dearly. You mean the world to me and that is why I must say words that are like poison to your ears. I must say these words, so when the time does come for you to make your choice, you will not regret it. You will not be burdened or biased by each side and you will have your own will. That is what I wish for you."

Ari understood his words even though he was not putting much merit in them. Before he met Auovin, Nolan was like the sun and stars to him. He revered him. After lying and deceiving him for so long, there was not much hope in what he would find there at the encampment to change his mind of him. However, Freir knew things. He had always known things and kept it away from him still. Even when he was used as bait. Ari furrowed his brows and looked up at Freir again as the dots finally began connecting.

"When the horde of lesser demons trapped and separated us from the rest... When we first met Au--the demon... was that all supposed to happen? Did he use me as bait then?"

Freir closed his eyes and looked away from him. "He told me it was not supposed to happen that way and so soon."

"When you took me away from him, you meant to lure him back to one of our temples."

"Ari... "

"It was only because I needed his blood that you did not try to put him to sleep. That is it, is it not? I was being used this entire time." Ylanan's words were making perfect sense to him now and he did not want them to.

"Ari--"

"You took so good of care of me, so you could be with Rein... because what human would voluntarily decide to raise a demon child and grow to love them as well without some gain or benefit from it?"

"In the beginning, yes, it was like that. I will not lie to you or keep anything else from you now."

"And my father--"

"But not now, Ari."

"Why not now?"

"Because you are getting upset when you mustn't."

"Why is it so wrong for me to express how I feel? If I am angry should I not express it?"

"Emotions can get in the way of good judgment, so put them away for now."

Ari looked at him, seeing the scar on his face as present as ever.

"I may be ignorant to many truths, but so are you to the truths that I know."

"I am sure the demons have told you many things. Have whispered sweet and bitter words into your ears as well. But do not throw out all sense of reason because of such words. Keep your emotions at bay. You must in order to keep your mind clear of bias. Are you listening to me? Do you understand?" Freir shook him. "Do you?"

"I do. But how can I trust in human's words when every one of them seems to mean me harm or hate. All they have ever done for me is lie and use me. Nolan's words may be lies even still."

"I am human and Rein is well--"

"Yes, I know this! I know this! But it does not make it any easier to trust the rest of them. You are different. Rein is different. You know how they look at me and how they treat me." Ari heard ruffling through the trees, signaling the men surrounding them presence. "Nolan would have me in chains and thrown in a cell."

"He would not... "

"He would."

They both fell into silence as the sun rose higher into the sky. It was bright and cloudless, unlike most days. He could feel its rays beating down against his back. The trees were becoming sparse and a clearing filled with broken statues and stone from an old temple in ruin laid before them. Ari looked back at Freir when he was done distracting himself with his surroundings, wanting to apologize. Even though he was angry and frustrated with this all, Ari knew he was in the wrong for speaking to him in the manner that he did.

"Forgive me for the way I spoke... "

"You have right of it. I understand your frustration and your confusion. I had kept you in the dark about much of this, so I have much blame to bear as Nolan does."

Ari shook his head. "You are not the same."

"Because you love me and think dearly of me?"

"Because you are a father to me. You had raised me and cared for me no matter your intentions in the beginning. You love me for who I am and accept me for who I have become and, yes, I do love you. I could never come to hate you." Ari wrapped his arms around Freir and hugged him. He could smell the blood of lesser demons on him, the scent of jasmines, and the stench that comes with traveling for days on end without bathing. To Ari, it smelled of his childhood and comfort. "Is that not the same for you?" Ari murmured.

"It is very much the same for me," Freir said as he hugged him back and laid a kiss at the top of his head. Ari breathed deeply not wanting to let go of him just yet, but the sound of the men approaching closer brought him away.

"The encampment is near," the same man from before said as he came upon them. He had a rope in his hand which made Ari look at him closely. If they dared tried to put him in confines again, Ari would not just sit still this time. He would not let them treat him like this. He was no animal or beast.

"He traveled far without them. Why put those on him now?" Freir said

"Precautions," the man replied.

"If you kept him with me, two of your men would still be alive."

Ari could not get a good look at his face even when he was not shrouded in darkness. There was a cloth covering the lower half of his face allowing Ari to only see his dark brown eyes. In them, Ari saw apprehension, fear, and distrust as clearly as his body language and words did.

"Your way did not work. Now you follow mine. You may be Nolan's special unit, but I still hold rank over you."

The man stared at the two of them before backing down and heading towards the encampment up ahead. As Freir gave him a small push forward, Ari could not help but think where Ylanan had gone off to? He would not easily be cowed by their numbers and he did not seem like the type to run away from a fight. Had he done this on purpose?

Ylanan said he would give him the truth and maybe this was it. Somewhere inside that place laid the missing pieces to the puzzle growing massively bigger by the days. What truth was there that could not be said with words? Ari pressed his thumb to his lips and sighed as the answer appeared right before him in the form of an old sculpture fallen into ruin. There was a graveyard of them, causing Ari to tread carefully around the larger stones and the small bits of debris from a temple not far from where they stood. It was the truth of when they were gods and how they had fallen from those great pedestals. The true story of the greats and the olds. Somehow, Ylanan believed he would find it here with the Khaeo. It was all where it began, after all.

"