The Guild Book I - 14. Chapter 14

Austin did not know how long he and Vard floated, in the Void. Time had almost no meaning there. All he knew was that it was an experience like none he had ever felt before, trapped in the act of love making, his hope being that it would sate Vard’s near unquenchable lust.

One cannot stay in the Void forever, however. It will eventually spit one out, which is what happened. Austin and Vard landed in a piled heap on the same hill they had left. While Austin felt exhausted, as if he had run for days without sleep, he could hear to his annoyance Vard’s deep laughter.

“What is so funny?’ Austin groaned, as he rolled over to face the Prelate.

Pinning the wiry man with his arms and legs, Vard gave the smaller man a wicked grin. “Can we do that again?”

“You must be joking.”

“No… I’m not.”

“You can’t still want more sex.”

“If it like what we just experienced… I’m ready now.”

“I think it will be a while before I take you back to warped space again.”

“Then would you mind if I made love to you here and now,” Vard said with pleading eyes.

“It will be like making love to a corpse,” Austin warned.

“You must really be tired,” Vard said disappointed.

“Traveling through the Void will wear a person out,” Austin agreed.

The two then spent a long time just staring at each other… Vard with a wolfish grin on his face while Austin was sure he looked like a trapped rabbit. Feeling his resolve weaken, Austin let his hands reach between their two bodies and take hold of their sex. “Just promise you will be gentle with me.”

Vard lowed his head down on Austin’s neck, nipping the skin with his teeth. “Oh beloved, I only know one way to make love… and that is to give you everything.”

“What am I ever to do with you?” Austin sighed.

It was not until the sun rose the next day that they left the hill… making their way back toward the village. They were only halfway there when they started seeing the changes that had taken place while they had been gone. The village was now a city… surrounded by a wooded stockade. Everywhere around the new city people were planting crops or tending animals. As people passed by Vard and Austin they would bow politely to the Prelate before hurrying on their way.

“Are these people birth kin? Austin asked confused.

“They are,” Vard nodded, also bewildered.

“There must still be thousands here… are you sure you are feeling ok?”

“Yes… I can feel an immense power coursing through me but I have control over it now.”

“Thank goodness,” Austin sighed.

At the gates to the city Vard and Austin were met by Broken Claw. “So you have finally returned,” the red headed man laughed.

“How long have we been gone?” Vard asked.

“Two long months.”

“And you never thought to look for me.”

“Oh there was no need for that, beloved,” Broken Claw winked as he elbowed Austin. “We did not know where you were, but we all knew what you were doing.”

“Oh my…” Vard chuckled while Austin went beet red.

“So when is the ceremony going to take place?” Claw asked after none of them said anything for a while.

“Ceremony?” Austin asked confused.

“Don’t you think it’s time we made Austin your oath brother?”

“Oath brother?” Austin asked.

“I think you’re right… after what we did he should be my oath brother,” Vard said, the wolfish look returning to his face.

“What is an oath brother!” Austin demanded.

Broken Claw gave Austin a bemused smile. “Among the clans a man can have two official lovers. The first is one’s mate. The second is the oath brother.”

“But are you not Vard's oath brother?” Austin asked.

“No… to be an oath brother one has to be of the same clan.”

“But I am not a member of the Wolf Clan,” Austin pointed out.

“As clan chief I have the power to make you one,” Vard explained.

“Ok… but what will be expected of me as an oath brother.”

“You will be my official lover. Until I pick a mate you are the master of my bed.”

“What does that mean?”

“Simply put, you decide who I can or cannot sleep with. You also have final say over which person I will take as my mate,” Vard replied.

“Well, Joshua will kill me if I did not let him be your mate so I think that decision is already taken care of,” Austin chuckled.

“Then I think you would make a good oath brother.” Vard laughed as well.

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“Where is he?” Gerick shouted, pounding his fist on the table.

“Why should you care?” Kentor asked innocently.

“The deal was you will hand Joshua over to me.”

“Yes… let’s just say I am keeping him hidden as insurance.”

“Insurance of what?” Gerick demanded.

“Oh don’t be coy with me. You’re in love with the boy. It’s all over your face.”

“Why should I not kill you and be done with it.”

“You could kill me, but Joshua would not live much longer past my own death. I also believe your love of power outweighs any feeling you have for the boy.”

Gerick gritted his teeth. He did not want Kentor to know that Joshua did indeed mean more to him than power lest he use such knowledge against him.

Seeing he had won this round, Kentor stood up. “Shall we complete our alliance in the bedroom?”

“Will that not warn Prelate Lorien of your betrayal?”

“Yes… but I do not wish to remain bonded to him any longer than I have to. Once I bond to you, the Guild’s men loyal to Lorien will lose their access to warped space. Lorien will not be able to summon reinforcements when we attack Earth with Felix’s fleet.”

“I see…” Gerick nodded. Kentor was indeed a dangerous fellow who Gerick would have to teach obedience to. He might as well do that from the bedroom.

Joining Kentor on his feet, Gerick removed his obsidian mask. Kentor responded in kind before opening the door that led to a large gilded bed. Letting his white Guild uniform slip off his body, Kentor spread his long body across the red silk sheets, his sex an erect pole sticking out from his body.

Gerick had to admit the treacherous counterpart was indeed handsome, as his mouth salivated on imaging the taste of Kentor’s manhood. Letting his own black uniform join the counterpart’s on the floor, Gerick climbed on top of the blond man… his manhood leaving a wet trail up Kentor’s leg. Moving his mouth up to the counterpart’s lower lip, Gerick bit on it till he tasted blood.

“You bit me,” Kentor said shocked as he touched his bloody lip with one of his hands.

“Would you like me to stop?” Gerick asked as he wrapped his hands around the counterpart’s throat.

“Stop… stop… stop!” Kentor yelled as he chocked for each breath.

Gerick did not stop, however. He did not kill the counterpart, but there were times Kentor wished he would as Gerick rode him as if he were trying to break a wild stallion. Kentor had made two mistakes. First he underestimated Gerick’s dominating will. He also had foolishly dismissed Joshua’s fear of the man as being nothing but a sign of the young man’s immaturity. Had he realized either truths… Kentor would never have invited Gerick to his bed. Now it was too late. Kentor was trapped. Soon he would be broken.

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The quarters – if they could be called that – had reminded Joshua of the cell he had in the mines… small, dark, wet, and smelly. Joshua did not complain, however… for they could have done worse… taking his Protector away from him. Brail also knew this and therefore did his best to hide his anger over the Inquisitor’s treatment of his charge.

The world they arrived at was a nameless dead world that orbited around a weak red star. It was a prison world… for men that the Guild did not dare kill but could ill afford to ever let go of.

For Joshua it was as if his life had come full circle as he was taken deep under the planet’s surface where the prison complex was located, where the prisoners were put to work digging to expand the prison.

On arrival Joshua was stripped of his mask and his Guild uniform, replaced with a red stripped grey jumpsuit. The warden… a man by the name of Horace, then went over the rules… “Try to escape, disobey a guard, or become too much of a nuisance and you will be punished.” The way the warden said the word “punishment” Brail and Joshua had no illusions that a person was ever punished twice.

Finally they were sent into the main cavern… the place that was to be their prison for the rest of their lives… It was a circular shaft, over a thousand feet deep and three hundred in diameter. Built into the sides were the prison cells, connected together by one long spiraling ramp. As Joshua and Brail were the newest prisoners they were sent to down to the bottom of the shaft where the prisoners had been kept busy expanding the complex.

“Brail…” Joshua whimpered with the iron door to their cell was closed and locked behind him, sending the room into total darkness.

“I’m here, Joshua… I’m here,” his protector replied as he reached out into the dark room till his arms wrapped around the young man.

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Joshua’s entry into the prison did not go unnoticed by his fellow captives. How could they ignore a man with white-on-white eyes… the mark of a counterpart?

“Did you see him as he passed by?” Ogden asked the stoic man next to him.

“Yes… I did see him,” the man replied in a flat tone.

“So what are we going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well sir… won’t the other gangs go after him. Does he not represent an opportunity?”

“Yes he does… but I don’t think we should make the first move.”

“But sir… he is a counterpart.”

“He is more than that,” the man murmured under his breath.

“What was that, sir…”

“Nothing… never mind.”

After a moment of silence the Ogden spoke again. “Sir… your orders?”

“Have the word spread that the Conclave lays claim to the counterpart and his Protector.”

“The other gangs will not like that.”

“I do not care what they like. They know better than to fight us… at least openly.”

“As you say, sir,” the man said with a deep bow, excusing himself… eager to get away from the man’s hard red eyes.