The Demon Lord And His Hero

Syryn heard a rumbling sound and reacted at the same time that Dionys got to his feet.

"Sir-"

"Move out of the way!" Dionys yelled at the guard. But his warning wasn't quick enough to save the anti mage. He fell and was buried under a pile of rubble that used to be the wall of Syryn's prison.

"Levia!" Syryn gasped out loud when he saw who had arrived to rescue his sorry self from the mage hunters.

Behind Levia, a group of anti mages followed. None of them knew what was going on because Levia had appeared at the HQ without warning and had begun charging through walls like hot butter through a knife. The members of the Sanguine could only follow the little monster and try to contain her. But their attempts were met with futility because Levia was a special creature who couldn't be controlled with simple anti-magic tactics.

"Sir! There's a possible zoo-" the anti mage outside was cut off by Levia's loud cry of excitement.

"Stand down," Dionys ordered the anti mages when he saw that the creature belonged to Syryn.

Levia ran up to Syryn and rubbed her cheeks against his open palm. He could feel her happiness and joy at being reunited.

"Good girl. Did you come to rescue me?" He asked the little monster.

Levia swung her tail from side to side. Syryn knew instinctively that it was a yes.

He then turned smiling eyes to the silver-eyed anti mage. "Dionys, you've been a great host but it's time I left."

"Stay a while longer," came the anti mage's reply. Syryn was witty, funny, and an overall interesting person to talk to.

"Rowan misses me," the mage responded. "So I'll have to say no to that."

"Sir, we're just letting him go?" An anti mage asked.

Dionys made an elegant shrug. He could see that Levia was no ordinary pet. If it was possible to contain her, the anti mages would have already succeeded in doing so. He had paid his dues to the priests by kidnapping Syryn so he longer felt obligated to keep the violet-eyed mage locked up. Perhaps if Syryn hadn't won him over just a little bit he might have tried harder to keep him locked up.

"If Rowan missed you, he would have come to get you."

Rowan had done plenty for Syryn already. The mage thought this was fine.

"Come visit sometime," he told Dionys before calmly walking away and out of the HQ.

That night, Syryn left behind anti mages who would remember this day later on when they would get to see Levia in her true form. Their impressions of Syryn would soar to even greater heights.

___

When Syryn cleared the boundary of the HQ, he saw a blond man standing by himself at a corner of the street. Rowan had his back turned to Syryn and was leaning against the wall as he looked up at the luminous moon.

Rowan hadn't abandoned him.

Syryn's faith in Rowan hadn't wavered but knowing that he had come for Syryn made the mage's heart skip a beat. He walked faster, almost at a jog towards the anti mage.

And when Rowan turned around, Syryn threw himself at the blue-eyed man. Rowan's hugs were the warmest. They gave him a sense of security that was inexplicable.

Wrapped in his lover's embrace, Syryn breathed in the scent of Rowan. He was getting to the woodsy smell that clung to the blond.

"Did you miss me?" Rowan asked Syryn. His tone was warm and fond.

"Very much. I think I love you, Rowan."

Syryn still didn't know what love was but if this feeling wasn't love then what was?

"I love you more," Rowan replied. His own heart was bursting with emotion. How long he had been waiting to hear it from Syryn's mouth; even if it was a Syryn with no memories of their past.

____

Word spread quickly. Syryn had broken out of confinement and the mage hunters weren't even trying to recapture him.

Within the temple of Eos, a priestess came out of the hall of Blessing. A meeting had been held and the clerics had come to a unanimous decision. Syryn would be allowed to participate in the choosing ceremony but he would have to be exiled from Sigil if he wasn't chosen by Eos. Every single one of the clerics believed that Syryn was just a disruption to their sacred ceremony. They were willing to bet everything on the outcome of Lillith being the chosen. Why did they have to expend so much effort on hindering Syryn when they could turn him into a laughing stock and have him exiled from Sigil?

"Lillith, my dear, it is time for your consecration," the priestess told the princess who had been praying in the crystal chamber.

The priestess was a little concerned because Eos hadn't spoken to any of them for years. Normally, the goddess had sent her will to them through dreams and visions. Her silence was interpreted as the goddess' desire to communicate with only the chosen. They weren't alarmed yet.

"I haven't been chosen yet...." Lillith replied, unsure of the decision that the clerics had made. There had been instances in the past when the consecration came before the choosing ceremony. It was done during extenuating circumstances. Lillith couldn't see how this was an emergency but she went along with the priestess. Only the chosen one was to be consecrated, and the clerics had complete faith that it would be her. This erased the tiny bit of doubt in her heart. Everything was going according to the will of the goddess.

_____

In another part of the kingdom, a portal opened in a forested plain. Out of the portal came a man with raven coloured hair and pomegranate hued eyes. He was as gorgeous as the star dotted galaxy. His presence was a weight that no ordinary human could bear without suffering from the pressure he gave out.

"Emperor, why have we come here?" A young boy asked the painfully good looking man. Despite the many years that he had spent in his presence, the young boy still found himself staring at Traxdart in awe.