The Bane of Existence

Published: 10 Apr 2017

Zander stood at the entrance of the cave watching the two wolves, Rogan and Radesh, come loping up the hill after their hunt. It was hard to believe five years had passed since their trip to Europe to find the prophecy and Zane had teleported them away from the Bane. The Bane, now there was a surprise! Zane’s mother, whom he hadn’t seen since she walked out on him and his dad when Zane was twelve, turned out to be the evil they were fighting against. Zane had not taken the news well.

Rogan and Radesh transformed to their human forms just before reaching Zander’s position. The questions in their eyes were met with a shake of Zander’s head as he answered aloud, “There’s been no change. He still sits there studying the book and Prophecy and occasionally writes something in his notebook.”

“That’s better than the first three months when he only sat there staring straight ahead,” commented Radesh.

“Definitely,” agreed Rogan laying a hand in sympathy on Zander’s shoulder as he passed. “At least he feeds once in while now as well.”

“True but I want my Zane back,” lamented Zander as he turned and followed the werewolves into the cave where the four had lived since leaving the village in Andorra.

Inside the cave they were met by the sight of Zane sitting cross-legged on the floor of the cave with the book open on his lap. Above his head hovered a ball of white light so he could read the hand-written script of his ancestor, Rinaldo. As the three watched Zane began to slowly rise into the air until his head nearly bumped the top of the cave.

They looked at each other not sure what to think but it was something new so it might be a good thing. Maybe Zane was finally coming out of his funk. After a couple of minutes of Zane just floating near the top of the cave, Zander and the werewolves decided it was too soon to get their hopes up.

Rogan and Radesh finished cleaning one another after their hunt, straightened their sleeping area then morphed into wolves and took up stations outside the cave opening. Zander putted around arranging things that weren’t really out of place then started a mock battle to practice his fighting skills.

About five minutes into his routine Zander made a turn with a block and found himself twirling around in the air. When he turned far enough to see his floating boyfriend there was a small smile on Zane’s face. He made a come here gesture and Zander felt himself glide towards the cute face of his lover. When he got closer Zane set the book aside and leaned forward to give Zander a light kiss on the lips. Zander leaned in himself for a second kiss then looked at the book.

It hovered beside Zane right where he had placed it high in the air. Zander shot a look of confusion and questioning at his blonde buddy. Zane caught the look then turned to see the book still within reach; he had included it in the levitation spell without realizing it. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

“Looks like you’re getting more from your magic than before,” pointed out Zander still watching the book float beside them.

“Yeah. The magical power built with each tome of Rinaldo’s works I read then the transfer of knowledge with the Matron really punched it up,” answered Zane. “Sometimes I can barely contain it but it’s getting easier now.”

“Is that why you’ve stayed holed up in this cave not moving?” queried Zander hopefully.

“Partly,” replied Zane hesitantly. “Some- maybe even a lot of it was the shock of seeing my mom and learning she’s the enemy we’ve been fighting against. The power surge is also why I haven’t fed that much. The magic has made it mostly unnecessary until recently.”

“So you weren’t trying to die by not feeding?”

“Goodness no! I just didn’t feel the need,” returned Zane with feeling. “Now that I can control the power better I can choose to use it to sustain me or feed and save the power for later.”

“Thank goodness! I thought you were trying to leave me,” a relieved Zander spoke from his heart. “You had me worried!”

“Never! Not in a thousand years!” Zane proclaimed with emphasis. “Let me make it up to you!”

Zane pushed back on Zander putting him in a supine position and followed until he was lying on top with both still hovering near the top of the cave. The diminutive blonde vampire began to make out with his boyfriend with unbridled passion. This went on for several minutes until they heard the clearing of a throat and a chuckle from below.

“Looks like he got his Zane back,” Radesh remarked to Rogan, both still chuckling at the two lovers.

Zane blushed having forgotten his protectors were present. “Sorry,” he offered as he started to move away from Zander.

Zander was also flushed but he grabbed Zane and held him in place. “They can turn their heads or whatever,” he announced. “I’m not letting you go just yet.”

Rogan grabbed Radesh by the arm pulling him away and called back, “We’ll run a patrol of the area for awhile.”

Rather than answering Zander simply pulled Zane’s face down to his and commenced making out once again. The two vampire lovers kissed, caressed and cuddled for the next hour. By the time they finished and the wolves returned they were settled on the floor of the cave in nothing but there well-tented boxer briefs.

Although they had had no contact for five long years neither was in a rush to achieve an orgasm. This had been about renewing their love and caring for one another. With one last lingering kiss the two started dressing as they heard Rogan and Radesh climbing the slight hill in front of the cave. Zane laughed as he used the spell a second time to retrieve his shirt that had caught on an outcrop of rock on a nearby stalactite.

Radesh and Rogan remained in wolf form as they approached the Z’s standing just inside the cave holding hands. The two werewolves stopped in front of Zane and pressed their noses against his knees. He let go of Zander, dropped to his knees and hugged each of the wolves in turn running his hands through their soft, thick fur.

“Thank you for staying and putting up with me all this time,” he said with an arm around each of their necks. “Thanks for looking out for Zander and keeping him company while I went off the deepend.”

They each licked his cheek, stepped back and transformed back into humans. They inclined their heads in a slight bow before Rogan spoke for them.

“No need to thank us for doing our job. You are Rinaldo’s Child and Heir and it is our pleasure and honor to serve you.”

“I don’t want to treat you as servants,” insisted Zane reaching for their hands. “I would like us to become friends.”

“That may well come to pass,” answered Radesh. “Just remember we chose to be your protectors and to help you in any way we can.”

“That is why I thank you,” returned Zane smiling. “Now tell me, have you heard from home or from the village we escaped from?”

“Yes, many times over the past five years,” Rogan replied. “The first time was about two weeks after we left and appeared here.”

“Good! Will you please tell what news there is?” pleaded Zane pulling them down to sit. Everyone made themselves as comfortable as possible on the cave floor.

Radesh and Rogan looked at each other until Radesh inclined his head toward Rogan who gave a curt nod in return. Then he turned to Zane and began;

“I am sure you want to know about the night in Andorra so I will begin there. You know the Bane and some of her minions invaded the village just after you were shown the Book.” Zane nodded. “Well, the Matron had started our Alpha preparing for war and sent them after us. According to what we were told they arrived just as we left. A fight between the Rogues and the wolves with help from the village’s mages commenced and the fighting was vicious. The side of good prevailed although one woman was lost and two wolves had to be sent to the Matron for healing. However, the Bane escaped without a scratch.”

Zane ran his hands through his blonde locks and heaved a breathy sigh, “I figured she would get away. I am sorry to hear about the villager and your friends.”

“Do not worry about Verne and Balto. They have recovered completely,” assured Radesh laying a hand on Zane’s knee. “They are once again hunting down Rogues with the others.”

“That is the only other news we have,” affirmed Rogan when he saw the look in Zane’s eyes after Radesh’s last statement. “The number of Rogues have been increasing dramatically in the last four years.”

“Of course!” Zane nearly yelled. “I gave her plenty of time to build an army.”

Zander laid his hand on Zane’s arm but Radesh beat him to putting into words how all three of them felt.

“Do not blame yourself! You were faced with a horrible shock after suddenly gaining a huge amount of information and magical power,” Radesh was insistent. “You were not ready then mentally, physically or magically. I’ve talked with my grandmother and she told me how hard it was on her when the title of Matron was passed to her. You had to have time to mesh it with all that you already were. Now, you are ready!”

“Yes, I am!” stated Zane decisively. “And I have an army of my own to build. After five years of study on the prophecy, I think I understand at least most of it. I have some old friends, acquaintances and some distant family to find and recruit. I also have plans to make and practice time with Samhain’s Son until we work as one.”

“I thought you just spent the last hour practicing to become one,” quipped Rogan with a smirk.

“That’s a whole other type of becoming one,” Zander fired back, “and even more fun!”

“Now, you know you like sparring with me,” Zane joined in the fun. “We get to make up afterwards.”

“I guess you’ve really got your Zane back finally,” laughed Radesh rising and pulling Rogan with him. “We’re going to take a nap so we’ll be ready for guard duty tonight.”

“You can nap if you want but you might not have to be on guard tonight,” informed Zane as he too pulled his boyfriend from the floor. “Come on, Zander. I need to get back in fighting shape.”

Zane and Zander walked hand in hand out of the cave, down the path then stepped off into the woods until they came to a small clearing. Side by side they began doing a simple Tae Kwon Do form to warm up. When they finished Zander glanced over to his smaller lover who after a few seconds nodded without turning to look. In unison The two teen vampires started the next form and after it the next one and so on until they had run through every single form they had learned from Master Kwan.

Upon completing the last form the Z’s moved into a thorough stretching program starting with the legs. They worked on hamstrings, then quads, then inner thighs followed by the outer thighs. After that they moved to stretching their calves. When they had finished with their legs the two stretched their torsos; front, back and sides. Next was shoulders and arms and the last part they stretched were their necks. By this time Zane who had hardly moved for five years was practically wiped out and they returned to the cave.

Back inside the cave, Zane set a guarding spell on the entrance while the wolves continued to nap. Zander, then, guided his partner to where a blanket was spread out, laid him face down and proceeded with a relaxing yet sensual massage removing all soreness and stiffness minus one certain body part. Being very quiet so as to not awaken the other couple Zander turned the emerald-eyed beauty to his back and took the stiffness out of that last body part leaving Zane very mellow.

The partners followed the same exercise pattern for the next week although they did mix the order of the forms and the order they stretched body parts. As they progressed Zane pushed for them to be able to mirror one another without any exterior communication. While for Zane it was effortless, Zander struggled since it did not come naturally for him but they were becoming closer to moving as one.

After that first week, Zane was able to spar for short periods then longer and longer periods as time passed by. Sometimes, now, Rogan and Radesh would join them watching at first then the Z’s coaxed them into learning the forms. Once they had mastered the forms, Zane and Zander launched them into sparring with very little wheedling.

Near the end of September, after about a month of being able to spar full out, Zane announced it was time to combine the physical with the magical. While the forest clearing had been fine for their martial arts sparring, Zane did not consider it suitable for using the spells of combat. He did not want to set the trees on fire with a stray spell.

Zane and Zander were doing daily runs in the mornings and started using them to explore the area in search for a place they could fire off spell blasts without endangering the woods. Rogan and Radesh did the same with their daily patrols. It was about three days of looking before the wolves reported they may have found a place.

On the other side of the hill from where the cave the four of them lived in, Radesh and Rogan had spotted another cave lower down the hill. Zane wanted to see it immediately but the werewolves had been on a long patrol and needed a few minutes to rest and to hydrate.

While they drank their fill of water and relaxed their muscles Zane restlessly paced across nearly every inch of the cave. Finally, Zander grabbed hold of him, sat him down and all but ordered him to meditate until they were ready. The smaller, blonde vampire did as he was told and soon had many ideas running through his mind.

After several minutes Radesh stood up, walked to Zane and held out his hand saying, “Come on, you little bundle of energy! Let’s check out this cave.”

Zane looked up with a mischievous grin on his face and taking a hold of Radesh’s hand used it to launch himself into the air giving the startled wolf a light kiss on the cheek as he came down. “Thanks,” he laughed seeing the stunned look on Radesh’s face.

Rogan and Zander both looked on with their fists on their hips and mock scowls on their faces until they couldn’t take it any longer and broke down in fits of uncontrollable laughter. When they were under control the two walked over, grabbed their own boyfriend and planted fierce, passionate liplocks on them. Releasing the kiss each of them then growled, “Mine!”

Hand in hand the two couples left the cave with the wolves leading the way around and down the hill to the second cave. When he first looked at the cave standing at the entrance Zane was disappointed; it didn’t look to be even half as big as the one they lived in. Rogan and Radesh urged him to go into the cave before he made any judgements.

After the few seconds it took for his eyes to adjust to the gloom inside the cave Zane could see an opening that took up half of the back wall. Holding out his hand an orb of light appeared and floated toward the opening. As the four friends followed they could see another room beyond the first one at the entrance.

Zane’s eyes lit up and a huge smile spread across his face when he turned the corner and saw the huge room in this part of the cavern. He stood stock still for a few moments then turned on his heel and headed out of the cave.

“I have an idea that complements something I thought of while meditating,” he said motioning for the others to follow him. “I need some time to think and research but I think this will turn out perfect for our needs.”

A couple of hours later Zane had the information he needed and a plan of action. He spent the rest of the daylight hours working on the new cave using magical spells to do what he wanted. He moved all the rocks of varying sizes from the surrounding area and used them to extend the wall in the cave until there was only a man-sized hole on the far left. Using the light spell again he sent the orb to the other side to see if any light could be seen. Using another spell he scooped mud out of the nearby stream to seal any cracks that glowed from the light orb until he was satisfied. Now they could practice magical fighting spells and no one would be able to tell without actually entering the cavern.

Zane returned to the home cave and told the others the practice site was ready and he also told them of his plans to use wood and rocks to create rooms in their living cave so that the couples could have some privacy.

“That’ll be a lot of hard work,” said Rogan. “How will we move enough to make walls with just the four of us?”

“Yeah, that’s going to take a lot of time,” chimed in Radesh. “Don’t get me wrong; I like the idea. It’s going to take time away from our training though.”

Zander had been quietly chuckling to himself when the two werewolves started going on about how hard it would be. With the last comment he guffawed a bit louder gaining confused looks from Rogan and Radesh.

“What’s so funny?” asked Radesh looking from Zander to Zane who had a grin on his face.

“Sorry to laugh but why don’t we go look at the practice area and see if either of you can figure it out,” suggested Zander as he pulled Zane with him toward the entrance. Rogan and Radesh looked at each other, shrugged and followed.

At the new cavern the wolves looked on in wonder at what Zane had accomplished on his own and in such a short time.

“I still don’t get what was so funny,” stated Rogan with annoyance. “I’m stumped on how he managed this.”

“Magic!” a suddenly enlightened Radesh pronounced. “He used spells. You can lift more with magic spells than you can physically even if you are a vampire.”

Back at the home cave the two werewolves and Zander listened attentively as Zane explained his plans and the spells used to complete them. By the end of the next day there were three rooms: one for the wolves, one for the vampires and one for cooking, meeting and other things the four needed to do together. There was also a short hallway connecting the three rooms that included the entrance of the cave as a sort of foyer.

A few days later the foursome had just returned from working out in their new practice room when they heard a call from just below the cave.

“Hey, there! In the cave. We want to talk.”

The four tired friends went together to check it out and saw two young guys hiking up the trail to the cave. Radesh and Rogan morphed into battle forms and were about to charge when Zane yelled, “Wait! I . . I think I know them!”

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