Chapter 43: Mission to find the necromancer

Filarion was before the ruins of the farm that the hydra had destroyed. Filion and Johnny were by his side. The three walked inside the farm, and began using the mana tracers that they had gotten with them to get the trace of the mana in the air.

Filion's mana tracer beeped, and then he waved his arms around. The other two men rushed to him.

"What is it? Did you find something?" Johnny asked, and Filion nodded.

"There is a trail not far from here. It is still fresh," the blonde elf pointed east, into the forest. The three walked, following the trail, and found a little hut. The stench of death wafted out of it.

Filarion placed one hand on each his brother and his husband, and moved inside. Out of the three of them, he was the most resistant to mana poisoning. A little something, he had to thank the antidote, multipurpose one, that he took each day.

When Filarion walked inside the hut, he saw a corpse slummed on a chair. There were seals on the table. He blinked. The necromancer was...dead?

After checking to see if there were no lingering traces of other mana, bar the seals, he went outside the hut and waved Johnny and Filion over.

"Come on, the old necromancer is dead," Filarion called, and the two moved to him.

"Why was the door open?" Johnny asked, and Filarion became thoughtful.

"Maybe the farmers had been here before? And stole one of the seals?" Filion suggested.

"Could be," Filarion agreed. He collected all of the seals in his bottomless bag, and then scoured the hut for anything else malicious that he could find. There was nothing, so he looked to the corpse of the necromancer next.

"We have to bury him. Chances are, he had nothing to do with all of this," Filarion mused out loud. His two companions nodded. Johnny took the corpse in his arms, as Filion took out a shovel from his bottomless bag.

Johnny didn't want to ask why Filion had a shovel. Chances were, he wouldn't like the answer. For, Filion still went on escort missions, even though the business had changed somewhat.

Filion dug a big grave, as Filarion and Johnny collected stones to pile over it. Maybe the necromancer had been nasty, while alive. They didn't know. But to place him in an unmarked grave left a bad taste in their mouths.

"Maybe we should say something for the man?" Filion said, not knowing what to say himself.

"He made sturdy seals," Filarion blurted out. They would need a necromancer to get rid of the seals. The chestnut-haired elf turned to Johnny. "Do you think Adam will help?"

"He might. I mean, he spoke of retiring, but he is still on my pay row, so..." Johnny let his words trail off, as he saw the matching frowns on both Filarion and Filion's faces.

"Why do you need a bodyguard now, Johnny?" Filion hissed, he nodded at his brother. "Filarion would have never hurt you. No matter how much you harmed him."

"I feel bad about the grandpa, you know?" Johnny began, eyes rooted to his shoes. "He doesn't have a family. No roof over his head either. And with his brittle bones, he can't go on paying quests."

"Why don't you invite him to live in the Elathana estate, Johnny? It must be lonely in your house, while you are with me. The children would love having a grandfather," Filarion suggested. Johnny's eyes widened.

"You won't have anything against it? I mean, Adam did the butt poke of death to you," Johnny said, as he gulped. Filion was glaring daggers at him.

"Yes, brother. That old bag of bones doesn't like you. Surely, you can see that?" Filion asked, but Filarion just shook his head.

"Fathers and mothers-in-law rarely like the bride," Filarion chuckled, when Johnny's eyes widened some more.

"Did you just refer to yourself as a bride?" Johnny asked, and Filarion moved closer to him.

"Well, the kids call me mother behind my back, you call me with a cute nickname, my sisters have me make them cheese. I am not even annoyed at all that, anymore," Filarion went and hugged Johnny. Placing his lips on the tank's ear. "If I let you call me your bride, will you eat your half of the apple?"

Johnny groaned. He knew that if Filarion accepted the role, then he would let him top him more often. Johnny enjoyed the tightness of the elf, his moans, his silent pleas for more.

"Can I eat it out of your hand?" Johnny asked with a smirk. Filion huffed.

"Get a room, you two," even though the blonde elf said that, he was happy for the two of them. Johnny seems to have forgiven Filarion by now. Seemed to have given him the same among of faith and respect as he used to.

"When we get back to the estate, we will eat the apple together," Filarion promised, and Johnny kissed him then.

Filion sighed. It would be nice if he found someone like Johnny for himself. Now that he was not part of the mafia, he wouldn't need to lie to his beloved about who he was.

Still, Filion knew that it was going to be hard. For, he was awkward socially. A life spent doing his family's biting had left him with barely any interests of his own. He just didn't know if he could find the love of his life.

Sometimes he wondered how Prisila and Feneria had managed. They had been as busy as him, all their lives, but Prisila had a steady lover, and Feneria was happily married.

Sure, Feneria's marriage was arranged, but that didn't mean much. For, their father would have never made her go through with it, if she had refused to be Kaniel's wife.

As Filion watched his brother kiss his husband, he could only smile. Their love was the stuff of centuries. Maybe, if Filion got out of his shell, and had his brother's self-confidence, he could find something like that for himself.