The Mist and the Lightning. Part 18

On the left side, but not in a human country, in the demonic kingdom, the red river measures the path.

And in that red river there is a black pool.

And in a black, terrible pool, black water boils, boils, throws foam.

And human lewdness dwells in that pool.

Dashing fornicator devil is a master there.

The pool with bodily languid boils, boils, seethes.

You, devil, fornicator, listen to my words, listen, and raise the water of the black pool!

Let the streams come out of the edges, let your river flow to human lands, and let (name) be drawn into the pool.

And in that whirlpool, let human lewdness enter into (name), and let (name) with fornication day after day for me suffer, let (name) the fornication of lewdness with me desire!

And if he wants, then let him make it! Let him burn with passion!

Key. Lock. Tongue.

Chapter 1

An army of black and unclean people left the city. They took away from Ore town a lot of goods and valuables, and Lis didn’t prevent them from doing so, keeping his promise. Loaded with booty, the army was heading for Crimson Rock. The predatory snake, fed up and gleaming with scales, slowly crawled along the red brick road, returning to its lair. The people went first, followed by the unclean. And Kors was literally torn with anger if, at the halts, he accidentally caught sight of the terribly pleased Zagpeace Gezaria. The fact that Zagpeace and Prince Ariel dared to free his Nik and give him free rein made Kors both furious and desperate. He didn’t know how to take revenge on them and how to make them see and understand that Nik still belonged to him.

Kors was in love, and this feeling was very bright and strong, he felt it with all clarity. And at the same time, this feeling was unreal in its strength, in its joy and beauty. He was happy just like that, just because he loved. It was not difficult for him to sleep a little, it was not boring to spend many hours on the road, because he was horse riding and thinking about Nik, imagining him, and these emotions filled Kors with incredible energy. Despite the field conditions, he felt great, he was in a high and light mood. It seemed to him that some kind of bright radiant light was streaming from him, illuminating him from the inside and making him beautiful. This love adorned him. Now he couldn’t even imagine how he had lived before without this feeling, how he walked, ate, slept and even laughed. But all this was not the same, it was still empty. Then he didn’t realize this, but now he realized that he didn’t live for real, and his life was incomplete, and he himself was gray and empty, he was nothing, and only now he was breathing deeply. He imagined Nik and shone with happiness, especially since Nik was driving a little ahead or next to him, and Kors could endlessly look at his white hair and imagine his face there, under the mask. Kors could imagine how he would hug him at a halt and finally, in a tent, when they were alone, remove the mask from his face and kiss him. And he also knew that Nik would kiss back. Kors recalled his words: “I will give you the meaning of life”. At that moment, Nik probably meant something else, most likely, the completion of the Mission, but Kors now didn’t care about the Mission. He didn't care about it anymore. Nik, unwittingly, gave him the true meaning of life, gave him the most valuable, what turned out to be needed the most. Having found love, Kors got happy, rejoicing in every day, every minute, every moment, because everything was filled with this meaning. The most important meaning. Kors realized that love was the most important thing. His meaning of life was love. He couldn’t realize it with Iness, and now he was happy that life gave him another chance to love and be alive thanks to this.

If I speak with human and angelic languages, but have no love, then I am a ringing brass or a sounding cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy, and I know all the secrets, and I have all knowledge and all faith, so that I can move mountains, but I do not have love, then I am nothing.

At the same time, Kors noticed that Nik also likes everything that happened between them, and liked Kors’ love.

Nik never had a loving mother and father, he was an orphan, and Kors felt his inferiority, his loneliness and vulnerability from this. Not a single person in this world really cared about him as his child, as a part of himself. Nik didn’t know this, because, in fact, no one needed him, and no one was interested in what was happening to him. Not knowing how it could be otherwise, he didn’t understand the difference, he didn’t understand it before, but now Kors showed him what true parental love and care, attention and care were. And Nik accepted it with joy, taking pleasure in being needed by someone, just like that, just because you belong to the family. From this love and Kors’ interest in him, he blossomed, became less twitchy, began to drink less. Nik took the restorative only to maintain the body destroyed by the Black Water, only because he could no longer do without stimulants, but now not for the sake of being high. He was cheerful, relaxed, he also had a good mood. He leaned towards Kors and looked at him with devoted eyes, unquestioningly obeyed any of his words and himself didn’t break away from his father for a minute. At the same time, Kors understood that Nik was already very subjugated and spoiled, and it was still possible to treat him not quite correctly, and Nik resignedly accepts this. And immediately, as soon as Kors expresses a desire, he obediently opens his mouth, without feeling any resentment at Kors for the fact that he sexually uses him. And Kors liked the soft character of his son, he liked to rule a little and give orders. He liked that Nik was small compared to him, and liked to press a little on the back of his head, forcing him to kneel. Nik raised his bright eyes at him and looked like a devoted puppy, and Kors howled and came on his face, on his lips and half-blood rings.

Kors had no doubt that Nik really fell in love with him, he was obedient, gentle and agreeable. It seemed to Kors that his happy life with Iness had returned. Iness was just as beautiful, gentle and loving. And she was just as calm, silent and submissive. But Kors couldn’t forget what happened next, how short-lived his happiness was, and now he was afraid that this happiness would be taken away again, he was afraid on the edge of panic, to the point of trembling, and if he could, he would have tied Nik to himself and would not let him go for a single minute.

Kors loved his son very much, he was absolutely happy next to him, and at the same time he was afraid, wildly afraid of losing him. He tormented him with his vigilant attention and control, never letting go of himself, and followed him on his heels, even when Nik needed to be absent.

This fear of loss grew stronger every day. If earlier it loomed somewhere on the horizon, now it was approaching the same way as they themselves were approaching the Black City, closer and closer. Like a thundercloud, fear clouded the clear blue sky, predicting a thunderstorm and becoming an endless disturbing background, not letting go of Kors for a moment and poisoning moments of joy.

Nik didn’t show him any displeasure. Absolutely submissive, like a doll, he reminded Kors of a doll with his beautiful face, which was often motionless, relaxed, like a mask, without emotions or facial expressions. He looked like a doll with his transparent, like glass gray-blue beads, empty eyes framed by long, really doll-like eyelashes, and light long strands framing a white, like a porcelain face. Kors couldn’t take his eyes off him and, like a man possessed, he asked a hundred times a day: “Nik, do you love me? Nik, are you with me?” And Nik slowly turned his head, and a light, gentle smile appeared on his face, turned to Kors, and he invariably answered: “Yes. Yes, ”and froze again.

And at the same time, when during the day Nik covered his eyes with black glasses, put on a mask, and Kors could no longer see his eyes and could not admire his face, when Nik ceased to be a beautiful doll and his son from Iness, Kors loved him no less.

On the road, from time to time, unclean ones drove up to them. Nik quickly exchanged short phrases with them, and often, while communicating, he suddenly began to laugh hoarsely, a dull short laugh, bestial, inhuman. At these moments, Kors also loved him, because then he heard and understood that his Nik was still more close to the unclean ones than to people, that he was a dirty unclean, mindless drug addict and alcoholic, a criminal and human waste with a hoarse voice and hoarse laughter. But he loved his husky voice and wanted him, so dirty and finished, no less. He wanted him in any form: an obedient person, and a Demon, he wanted a beautiful doll and a dirty drug addict, evil and kind. Kors wanted both. His cock literally jumped up when Nik was talking to Zaf or Parky, when he laughed, and Kors heard this short hoarse laugh… and then Nik turned to Kors, apparently feeling his emotions, and said:

“Vkhitor, wkhat?”

And everything froze inside Kors from his endless “kh” and “sh”. Nik “heard” this, he laughed and talked with the unclean, and then, hearing this love from Kors, this mad lust, he turned to him, and Kors understood that he was looking at him through the black glass. Nik put a horizontally turned finger in a black glove to the mask at the level of his mouth and slightly raised it up, and Kors was already used to this “smile” of his and loved it too.

At one of the halts, Kors combed his hair, again pinned his hair into a beautiful ponytail, removed the strands that obscured his face. Nik sat patiently and let him brush his hair, although he said:

“Vitor, why are you wasting your time? After all, you will ruffle me anyway.”

“No. I will not mess you up.”

“As this morning, under the bush.”

“No, no, I'll be careful,” Kors whispered hotly, kissing him on the fluffy top of the head, “I love you. You misunderstood me, I didn’t betray love. I gave up my love for Iness, but I didn’t give up love at all. And I betrayed Iness for you, because I wanted to love you. Love is a summer night with a star-studded sky and a fragrant earth. This is the breeze sweeping over the roses. These are daisies that spread their petals wide at nightfall. Love is fiery hellish music that makes even the hearts of old people dance. It makes the king bow his head to the ground, so that his hair sweeps the road dust. It can destroy a person, lift him up and brand him again with shame. It is solid, like an indestructible rock, and burns with an inextinguishable flame until death, because love is eternal.

Love is the first word uttered by the creators of the world, the first thought that dawned on them. When the Supreme said “Let there be light!”, Love appeared. And they saw that it was so beautiful that they didn’t redo anything. This is how love appeared and became the primary source of the world and its ruler. But all her paths are covered with flowers and blood. This is love.”

And Nik silently listened to him, smiling a little, and after a couple of days there was no trace of his neat tail and pinned hair.

Kors wanted to make his son even better, more beautiful. His marks on his cheeks haunted him, and Kors took a flesh-colored dye, mixed it with white, trying to make it look like Nik’s skin tone, and carefully smeared over his inscriptions.

“You can paint them over, hide them, at least for a little while?”

“Generally, of course, I can't, but I'm not in the Unclean Limit right now.”

“Look how beautiful it is. How good are you without them! Without those dirty black spots on your face!”

Nik remained silent, and the next morning Kors couldn’t resist, and, taking a black pencil, wrote his initials on his now clean, painted cheeks, on one “V”, and on the other “K”, again soiling, spoiling and making him his thing.

“Don't wear a mask today,” he said.

“Okay,” Nik replied calmly.

“I'm not humiliating you?”

“No. I am yours.”

And Kors hugged him in a fit of feelings and kissed him for a long time.

Kors wanted the blacks and especially Zagpeace to see them. During one of the stops it happened, Peace saw them nearby, and for Kors it was a triumph. Because Peace realized that, despite the fact that he freed Nik, he didn’t leave and didn’t run away from Kors, continuing to belong to him, and Kors with pleasure felt the annoyance and anger of his former comrade.

Grabbing Nik, Kors immediately took him away, took him a little to the side over the hill, and, breathing heavily, began to unbutton his fly. Nik understood everything, he had already learned very well to guess the wishes of Kors. He immediately knelt down and began to suck him. Kors wanted to scream out loud, but they still moved very close, and he restrained himself, feeling that Nik was doing it diligently, with love, and no matter how many times Kors ordered to do it, he would do it. He will do it in front of black if Kors wants it, and he will do it in front of Zagpeace. But, of course, Kors couldn’t allow this, he loved Nik very much and didn’t want to humiliate him in front of others. He didn’t consider his obedience humiliation, but, on the contrary, was very pleased. And at the halts, he still often fed Nik out of his hands, putting pieces of food in his mouth. Nik smiled and took food from Kors’ hands. The unclean ones and Parky, who were sitting with them by the fire, saw Kors take a piece of meat and give it to Nik, who, before taking it, kissed Kors’ hands, and then took his fingers into his mouth along with the food. And Kors fed him with great tenderness. But at the same time, despite all his insane love and fear of loss, Kors beat him, and every day more and more. He hit him in the face or in the stomach, he could slap him in the face, but only when they were alone and others didn’t see them. In their tent, when Nik, in Kors’ opinion, pronounced a word incorrectly or with a strong accent, or if he expressed himself obscenely, he immediately received it on the top of his head, despite all the love. Kors staggered and shook from side to side, he became more and more nervous. Nik silently endured his jabs, only squeezed or closed his eyes from the blow. And Kors kicked him, kissed him, was happy and shook with fear at the same time. Arel didn’t interfere with their relationship. The three of them often made love, and Kors fulfilled all their desires. Nik and Arel did whatever they wanted with him, he still allowed them to simultaneously pound him in the anus, got used to it and no longer experienced such painful sensations as before.

Chapter 2

Their little world was fenced off only by unreliable rag walls, but it was warm and cozy in the tent. It smelled of aromatic resin that Valentine burned against insects, and tobacco. The floor was covered in several layers of soft skins. A small yellow-orange stone flower, suspended from the ceiling in a jar of thick glass, softly illuminated the surrounding space with a warm, dim light.

The wine in the jug ran out long ago, but they were not asleep.

“I'm going crazy with you! I’m going crazy! My little white boy, so fair! Gods, how I adore you! You are like a porcelain figurine, your hair is thick and as snow!” repeated Kors, tightly squeezing Nik in his arms, admiring his neat features, unable to calm down and fall asleep, despite the fact that it was already deep night:

“I love you with unconditional love, do you understand what it is?”

“Not really…”

“I'll explain it to you later. It is very rare in our life that someone loves us with unconditional love.”

“Does that mean just like that? Without conditions?”

“Yes! Put on your mask! Cover your face, I can no longer see such a sweet face of yours, otherwise I will now be torn apart!”

Nik immediately put on the mask, and Kors waited impatiently for him to do so, and again impulsively pulled him to himself. From the feelings that overwhelmed him and the constant fear of losing his boy, he started something like a hysteria, and tears flowed from his eyes:

“They will take you, take you from me! I know it!” He repeated, shuddering and sobbing.

“No, no, I'm not Iness, no one will steal me!”

“They will steal you! Leonardo will steal you from me! He will make you obey and serve him,” Kors didn’t let go of Nik, continuing to convulsively press his face to his chest, now covered by a mask of an unclean one convicted of murder.

“I won’t survive this!” Kors began to sway from side to side, tears continued to flow down his cheeks, he could not calm down.

Nik freed himself a little from his embrace.

“Eh, he doesn’t think about me! Leonardo doesn't know about me.”

“He will know! He will know everything, I won’t survive it!”

“Vitor, Vitor, please stop. Don’t cry, they won't take me away from you!”

“I can’t! I can't stand it!”

“Vitor, stop tearing your heart, it hurts me too! You're hurting me now too!”

“I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you!”

“I myself know how to defend myself.”

“Yes, I know how you can, I saw it…”

“There are three of us, and he is alone!”

And at the same instant Kors felt Arel’s invisible hand on his throat. The prince barely squeezed his neck and let go, as if demonstrating to Kors that he possessed the Power and could use it against their enemies. Kors looked up at him, and Arel grinned.

“Arel! Kill this black one with your touch immediately on the spot! To hell! Let's not stand on ceremony with him! Let's kill him now! Right now, Nik!”

“Vitor… you can't…”

“Are the Demons guarding him too? Eh? Order his Demon to serve you!”

“Not in this case. There are rules, and the first move must be made by a human, but he has not yet made it. And maybe he won't, he doesn't know about me. He doesn't care about me. I'm just a half-blood from Lower City, a commoner. I'm not interesting for Leonardo, not at all interesting! He doesn’t think about me and doesn’t perceive me as a person. I'm trash that he doesn't care about.”

“Okay. If you cannot do this due to the severe restrictions that have been imposed on you, let Arel do it! Leonardo is the main culprit of all his troubles! Arel, you don't have to follow the rules that Nik must obey, do you?”

“I don’t have to.”

“The High Demons haven’t punished you, so do it!”

“We are too far from the Black City…”

“Oh! Arel, develop your Gift more, damn it! Train! Learn!”

“I now have more strength and capabilities than before,” said Nik.

“This is wonderful, but somehow it doesn’t calm me down!” Kors wiped away his tears.

“Don’t be afraid of anything.”

“Nik…”

“Why are you so afraid of Leonardo?! He treats you quite well, you never interfered in his affairs, never entered into conflict with him. You see, he invited you to his secret meetings, which are only for the elite. He doesn’t consider you to be his enemy or competitor.”

“He will take you! He will make you fulfill his wishes!”

“He doesn't even think about me. Did you think about me a lot when you were given the assignment?”

“No… I didn't think at all…”

“You see…”

“But he will learn that you are not a man, not a commoner…”

“He won’t know. He will decide that these are stupid inventions.”

“He will know. When I retired, I put all papers in order and left them to my successor. I didn't expect it to be him! And I left your case too. What for! Why did I do it! Everything is described there! That's it, Nik, in detail! There are your data, signs, recorded interrogation, my questions and your answers, every word, and how you behaved. What substances and drugs Balthazar injected you with. Your diagnosis. My personal conclusions based on interrogation. My conclusion is that I completely agree with the royal sages and seers and, of course, consider it appropriate to get rid of the suspicious half-blood. But first I proposed to make a laughing stock out of you, humiliate you, make you look like a fool, in order to show everyone that you are not the Son of the Devil, but an ordinary miserable person. And everything that is said about you is just stupid inventions, thought of to intimidate fools, and only ignorant commoners from Lower City can believe in them. So that the sirs have fun at the ball, and laugh. Well, and then, without trial and investigation, I offered to quietly rot you in a stone sack, writing off death for natural causes. And the king’s permission. He liked this idea. And that's all… Leonardo will read it all!”

“He didn’t read anything. Didn’t even look at these papers. He is not interested in this. So he thinks exactly as you wanted, that I am an ordinary half-blood, and everything that is said about me is just stupid inventions of commoners. And he, just like you, considers the king to be an old senile.”

“We will return to the Black City, Leonardo will take an interest in you, take your case and read it! What have I done!”

“And what will he read? That I am a half-blood slave from the command of Prince Arel?”

“I described your criminal biography…”

“What Zagpeace and everyone else know about me anyway? Will he read this? The supreme masters are not interested in this. You didn’t write there that I wasa Demon in a human body.”

“No, of course, I didn’t make such an categorical statement,” and, seeing that Nik was embarrassedly silent, Kors simply mentally conveyed to him the vision of the case, as he wrote it, page after page, realizing that the Demon will have time to perceive this information and understand everything and see what Kors wrote.

Nik was silent. And Kors’ heart was breaking.

“Get rid of him like rubbish, no longer attracting attention,” Nik said quietly, repeating Kors’ entry from his case.

And Kors, in despair, covered his face with his hands.

“You like to put everything on the shelves, you are neat,” said Nik, “well, to hell with that! He has not read it, and won’t read it. He doesn’t care.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Vitor, yes. Don’t worry like that, please. Everything will be fine.”

“I can’t,” said Kors, “I can’t…”

The fear of losing his love didn’t let him go.

He pushed Nik slightly away from him, peering into the faceless blackness of the mask and the narrow slits for his eyes. He saw how Nik was looking at him intently, how he blinked, and this made his light eyelids visible in the slits of the mask for a second, and the eyelashes almost rubbed against the edge and prevented him from blinking. Kors practically howled and inaccurately pulled off his mask, and Nik hissed barely audibly. Now Kors saw his white face, and the way Nick wrinkled his nose from the fact that Kors pulled off the mask from his face, involuntarily painfully pulled on his hair. Long bangs immediately fell on his forehead and eyes, obscuring them. Recently, Nik’s hair has always been clean and combed, and the bangs, cut by strands of different lengths, have become even more naughty.

The blonde strands that Kors loved so much were so thick and fluffy that they covered not only Nik’s right eye and cheek, as before, but literally the entire upper part of her face. And now Kors saw only his pierced lips with two thick carved half-blood rings.

“It seems like it’s time to cut your bangs,” Kors said with affection and as if thinking aloud, “or, maybe, leave it to grow some more…”

Slightly sliding it back, he ran his fingers into the roots of his hair, enjoying its color, softness and density, opening his bright devoted eyes, pressed his boy to his chest with force again and in despair began to sway from side to side, thus trying calm down and at the same time, as it were, rocking Nik. At some point, Kors very clearly heard Nik jerk sharply in his arms. This is what people do when they fall asleep, and Nik, from the affectionate hugs and rocking, fell asleep in Kors’ arms like a child. Kors felt how much Nik loved him. He was not worried or hurt by what Kors wrote about him. Nik trusted him, was not afraid of anything, he was with his tough and best father, and he was calm and happy. And, having caught these emotions in the head of his son, Kors, despite all the fears, felt boundless happiness. Nik considered him very brave, handsome, noble, true black, elite, the best. Nik was proud of him and the fact that he was his father. Kors couldn’t help crying again. Not daring to wake Nik, he awkwardly wiped away his tears and looked at Arel: