ADAD Chapter 16: A hitch in the road

 Anastasios woke refreshed, and he snuggled deeper into Darius. As far as the vampire was concerned, there was nothing wrong with the demon being his little spoon.

For all that Darius was taller than him, and had more muscle mass, he was undeniably the cuddlier of the two. Darius's tail wrapped around Anastasios's legs, and the vampire allowed himself a kiss on the demon's neck. 

"Wake up, sleepy head. It is morning," Anastasios murmured, and Darius turned into the embrace, to show his sleepy eyes to the vampire. 

"And if I don't want to get up today? It is still raining, Nastia," Darius said, and it became obvious to the vampire that the pitter-patter of rain drops was still clear to be heard. 

"Well, you can still work on the runes we need. I can look over the budget one more time, before deciding what to cut," Anastasios said, and he got out of the bed. Darius reached out for his soulmate, but Anastasios dodged his arms. The vampire smirked at the demon, and strode out of the bedroom and into the bathroom, naked as the day he was born. 

"Tease," Darius called out after him, and he chuckled. The demon stood out of the bed as well, just as naked as his better half, and decided to have some fun in the shower with Anastasios. Just because it had been raining for the past couple of weeks, it didn't mean that they had to waste the water. 

That morning, everything seemed to be running smoothly. Until a certain point. Both Darius and Harvey felt it, when a wizard teleported in Gorgon. The two runesmiths shared a look.  

"Were you waiting for someone?" Harvey asked, and Darius shook his head. 

"This can't be good," the demon said. The aura of the wizard was coming ever closer to the new capital city. At a breakneck speed, which meant that the wizard must be teleporting in search of the city. When the aura stopped at the shack filled city, both men held their breaths. Then, the aura turned directions, and they felt it clear as day, right outside the first pocket dimension. 

"You stay in here, I'll go check it out," Darius said, and he took his two short swords. Strapping them on his back, he checked to see if he had medical supplies on himself, just in case this was a visit from someone who didn't mean them harm. 

"I'll tell the others," Harvey said, and he exited the room, and headed towards Anastasios's house, where the rest were helping the vampire prince go over the budget. 

Darius was soaked to the bone, by the time he made it out of the dimensional pockets. When he saw the huge pyramid next to the oasis, he craned his neck, hoping to see the top. He found that he could not. There was a man swimming in the water, and Darius approached him carefully. 

"Who are you?" Darius asked, and the man turned to stare at him. 

"Oh? There were people in here?" He asked, with a strange accent. Darius had never heard such a lilt before. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mustafa, and I am a sultan in exile from a faraway realm."

"You are also not invited," Darius said, as he neared the water. "Why are you here?"

"How rude of you, child, to not introduce yourself as well," Mustafa said, and he flicked his hand. Darius was tugged to sit next to the water's edge, and he felt as if he was sticking to the soil.

"This is no time for tricks," Darius snarled, but the man just chuckled. 

"I have come in here to make this my realm. Last time I checked, no one lived in here. Because I am generous, I will allow you to stay, young demon," Mustafa then did another lap in the water, and dived inside. Darius watched the bubbles on top of the water for a while, thinking on how to get the wizard to leave. 

"This realm belongs to Anastasios Vicente," Darius yelled, hoping that the water won't mute his words. The wizard resurfaced, and then leveled him with a hard look. 

"A Vicente? Here?" He asked, and then looked at his pyramid. "No matter, there is no other realm for me." 

"I beg to differ," Anastasios said, as he exited the dimensional pocket. "We don't accept any more refugees. Try your luck with one of the neighboring realms. Some of them have a climate that is quite normal, and not like Gorgon's desert one." 

"Desert climate? Is it not raining, young vampire?" Mustafa asked, and Anastasios pulled out his katana. 

"If a fight is what you want," the vampire said, but the wizard just shook his head. 

"I come in peace," the man told him, and looked at the rest of the people who were getting out of the dimensional pockets. "You are all so young. Your lifespans show a reading as if you are six-years-old. Orestria students?"

"What is it to you?" Timothy asked, his daggers in his hands. 

"Well, the instructors in Orestria should have taught you to recognize an asset, when you see one," Mustafa said, and then sighed. "How are you little children going to bring down someone who has a millennium of experience?" 

"We will find a way," Darius snapped, as he stood, having managed to activate his defuse magic rune, and have it suck the mana out of the spell. 

"And why are you so hostile?" The man asked again, and then pointed at his pyramid. "All of my treasure is in there. Perhaps I will share, if you allow me to stay?" 

Anastasios seemed to waver for a while, until Prisila nudged him in the ribs. 

"The budget looks awful. If you get a failing grade on your mastery, you will be kicked out of the academy," the vampire princess said, and Anastasios sighed. 

"One wrong move, wizard, and you are out," Anastasios promised, and the man dived back into the water. The friends had to wait for him to resurface, and when he did, he had in his hands a fish that had not been in the oasis before. 

"Who feels like fish for dinner?" Mustafa asked, and he chuckled at the bewildered looks of the people before him.