Chapter 44: Moments of happiness
Giggling, Filarion tugged Johnny into the bedroom. They were going to eat the apple tonight. Adam had agreed to destroy the seals, and to move into the Elathana family estate. Even though he had smirked at Filarion, and told him that if he hurt Johnny again, a butt poke of death would be the last of his worries.
Yet, Filarion's plans fell apart when he saw Zaine in the bedroom, looking troubled.
"Hey, what is up?" Filarion asked, and Zaine bit his lower lip.
"I got my first kiss," the berserker spoke, and Johnny smiled proudly.
"Who is the lucky girl or boy?" Johnny asked, and Zaine looked down at his hands.
"Fafnor," he mumbled, loud enough so his parents could hear him.
"Wait, what?" Filarion gasped, when he heard that. Fafnor Ironside was more than a thousand years old. What was he doing sniffling around his seventeen-year-old son?
"He was gentle about it," Zaine tried to defend his teacher, but the grave look in Filarion's eyes didn't let him.
"Doesn't matter if he is gentle! Did he imprint on you?" Johnny asked. He was beyond pissed off. He had trusted Fafnor, and the old dragon shifter had done this, as soon as Johnny's back was turned.
"Imprint?" Zaine asked. He hadn't felt anything that could count as binding, but he could also be mistaken.
"Let me check your mana," Filarion said, and then placed a hand over Zaine's forehead. For a minute, nothing happened, then Filarion cursed.
"Bloody dragon," the elf hissed, and then balled his fists. "To imprint on a seventeen-year-old!"
"He did not," Johnny shook his head in disbelief. "Why would he?"
"This is your fault," Filarion snapped, and his glare turned to Johnny. "If you hadn't suggested the old dragon, I would have pulled some strings, and had the guild master train Zaine."
"He makes me feel safe," Zaine muttered, and his parents looked down at him. "Like I am not a monster. When I am around him, I feel calm."
"Well, yes. He imprinted on you. Of course, you would feel safe around him," Filarion hissed. "Come on, get up. We are going to get that old dragon to get rid of the imprinting."
They were in the guild's mead hall in three hours. All the while, Filarion had chewed up both Zaine and Johnny in turn. When they saw the dragon eating meat by a fire, Filarion stormed off to yell at him.
"You cradle robber," Filarion yelled, and Fafnor gave him a bored look.
"It takes one to know one, my dear in law," Fafnor told him, and then pointed at the meat. "Do you want to know what your son's problem is?"
"What problem?" Filarion snapped, ready to fight the dragon, just to get the imprinting off his son.
"He suffers from lack of control. If I hadn't imprinted on him, most of our joined quests would have ended up in gore. He needs someone stronger than himself to balance his bloodlust," Fafnor told him, and Filarion's eyes widened.
"He is a good kid," Filarion protested. Then he looked at Zaine. Did his son suffer from some sort of trauma that he didn't know about?
"He has been strong for too long," Fafnor said through gritted teeth. "His brothers have always depended on him. More so, after his parent's death. His nerves are at a snapping point. If you don't want a serial killer on your hands, you will leave him to me."
Zaine's knees were weak. Him, a serial killer? Was he close to losing his mind? Sure, after his parents had died, his life had been tough, but was it this tough?
"How can we believe you?" Filarion asked. Johnny placed a hand on Zaine's shoulder, and gave a supportive squeeze.
"You can go the heartless route, test him, crush his dreams of ever making a name for himself and helping people, or you can take my word for what it is," Fafnor then looked at Zaine, and his lips formed a soft smile. Zaine returned it, as good as he could.
"If you die..." Filarion let his words trail off. If Fafnor died, then that would push Zaine over the edge. Fafnor's shoulders slumped.
"A couple of years of sanity are better than the alternative. You love your son, I get that. But this is the best I can do for him," Fafnor said, and then stood up. He walked to Zaine, and took his hands in his. "To keep you safe, I would put my career behind me. We can do F ranked quests, ones without danger. As long as I live, you will never need to kill again."
Filarion became thoughtful then. He had a golden apple. Just one. Yet, what sort of father he would be, if he buried his son? More than that, what sort of father would he be, if his son was broken, both in spirit and in body, before he died?
The elf fished out the golden apple, and cut it in half.
"Parents love their children. Dragon, don't make me regret this," Filarion gave both Fafnor and Zaine half of the apple each. Then he went to stand by Johnny.
Zaine stared at the apple, knowing instantly what it was.
"But, wasn't this for you?" Zaine asked, and Filarion shook his head.
"I am not going to spend eternity feeling regret, standing over a grave," Filarion told him, and then looked to Johnny. "I can't offer you eternity anymore, but if you let me share my lifespan with you, then we can still have many centuries before us."
Johnny took Filarion's hands in his, and brought him closer.
"What you just did, was something the old you couldn't have done," Johnny murmured, and kissed Filarion. The elf then imprinted on his husband, linking their lives together. Zaine stared at his parents, who had given up on eternity for him. He wondered if his brothers shouldn't have his half of the apple, but then a hand brought the apple half to his own lips.
"Eat, I promise that you won't find a better mate," Fafnor's words were spoken in a gentle tone, and Zaine dared to hope then. That he could become a renowned adventurer. That he could help people.
"I will miss my brothers," Zaine muttered, but Fafnor just poked one seed in the apple.
"Must you lose them? Look at how many seeds this half has," Fafnor then took a bite out of his own apple. Zaine wondered then if the dragon knew how to grow an apple sapling out of a golden apple. He took a bite of the sweet fruit, and finished it in a couple of bites.
The very same day, Fafnor planted the seeds in a pot and watered them with his blood. One sapling went to the emperor, who just shook his head when he learned that it had been Filarion who had stolen the last apples.
Another sapling went to the Elathana estate, to be there and give fruit for as long as it could. The last sapling was planted in the gardens of Fafnor's castle, to provide fruit for the many friends and family members that the two of them, Zaine and he, included in their lives.
As for Filarion and Johnny, they got their golden apples, in about twenty years. Yet, they didn't eat them. For life was sweet, when there was an end in sight. And both were happy that they could share it with one another.
The end.
