Through the dense canopy the sky is still dark, the stars bright and the moon almost a beacon. The left trail that Rito and Rafael have taken is a more open path through the rainforest, until they come to a swath of fallen trees in their way.

A giant tree seems to have dragged down several others and now moonlight floods the clearing, highlighting the cracks in the bark but making the shadows under the crumpled stack even deeper.

Rafael climbs over one of the large moss-covered trunks and Rito leaps over it, but the next one is too big for the sheep and Rito doesn’t have enough space to get a runup in this squat maze.

“I can carry you,” Rafael says in amusement but Rito is already circling around.

Rito stares wide-eyed as he makes his way around the whole cluster. The biggest tree has a huge canopy as large as a classroom and that’s with half of it being crushed since it’s on its side. The leaves are falling off but even now it’s enough to completely obscure everything. Rito walks a bit closer and it muffles things too, almost swallowing up the sheep in foliage. It would be so fun to play hide and seek in there.

“Rito?” Rafael calls. “I think there’s something-“

A rapid crescendo of rustling branches creaking under a weight surges towards the clearing, up high and fast. He doesn’t know what it is but it doesn’t sound nice. Rito kicks into a sprint, bleating loudly as he charges out from behind the fallen monolith to see Rafael already running too. They’re far away from each other, farther than Rito thought.

Something bursts into the clearing just as they leave it, a huge creature whose shadow streaks across the ground as it’s hurled through the air. Rito darts a glance backwards but it’s already diving back into the treetops before he can get a good look.

The bag thumps into Rito’s front legs, tripping him up, and he tosses it off after a moment of hesitation. His thoughts are jumbled. Rito has better sight now and can tank a hit as a sheep but Nicholas has an apprentice wand and opposable thumbs. Can he shift mid-run without falling over? Can he put a night vision spell on his glasses before the thing catches up as he’s stumbling blind?

It’s not focused on Rito so maybe now is his chance but he doesn’t want to fall behind. Rafael is still too far away, form flickering between trees, though they’re slowly running at an angle so they’ll meet up soon and can-

Rafael looks back at the massive creature and Rito catches the exact moment the boy realises he’s the one being chased and not Rito.

Nicholas explodes out of Rito in a sudden burst. "Raffy!" he yells, sprinting after them, almost tripping over a root before he modifies his glasses and the world becomes sharper.

Rafael takes a sharp turn and curves a path away from Nicholas, leading the creature away with him.

"Rafael!" Nicholas screams and this time he's angry.

"I've got it!" Rafael snaps back.

Now sprinting madly through the trees in a vague triangle with Rafael leading the charge, Nicholas has a better view of the creature. It’s huge, maybe as tall as Thoth on his hind legs, with incredibly long arms. It’s formed like a monkey but built big like an ape, the tail whipping around to help balance as it swings across branches. Nicholas catches glints of the scorpion tip, arched and bulbous.

What is it? Rafael wouldn’t know since he doesn’t take creatures class in case someone realises he’s a werewolf. Okay, what - where are they? Africa, Congo, rainforest, ape that has a scorpion tail. Something about…used in poaching! The ape is used for hunting because it tracks Dark creatures. It was banned though because some countries considered it sacred for – for – fuck! He can’t remember.

In only a few seconds, the ape creature is gaining on Rafael but Nicholas is falling behind - which is ridiculous because if Rafael can run like this then he should be an Olympic sprinter. He’s not even wearing shoes!

The creature screeches and the chest jerks out strangely but compresses again. Nicholas swears as he vaults over a particularly large clump of bushes and hurls a few spells to test it, to try and catch its attention. The thing might be huge but it’s fast and nimble, dodging most and just tanking the few spells that get it. The fur is thick and Nicholas can’t see if he even made a single cut.

Rafael’s attempts at blocking it are clearly just slowing him down because he needs to turn back and aim. The shields he does get up are too small and the ape just swings right over them, leaping across the towering trees.

Nicholas really wishes he paid more attention in class. The creature has a curse, something about a curse - can’t kill it? Can’t or won’t? Really bad stuff if you kill it? Yeah, a rebound curse. Rebound death curse if you kill it.

Shit.

“Don’t kill it!” Nicholas yells, not even panting that hard because it’s barely been half a minute, the thing is just so fast that it’s leaving Nicholas behind in the leaf litter.

“I’m being as nice as I can!” Rafael barks out.

The shadow of the ape is creeping ever closer to Rafael across the tangled forest floor. Nicholas tries a few times to make the branches cling to the ape, or cut through them so it falls but nothing works. There’s no time for anything more complex. The creature is halfway between Nicholas and Rafael, all of them forming a zig-zagging line.

Nicholas whips his wand around, more enchantment than charm, and it feels like his legs are on fire, the heat surging up his body as he speeds up, strides longer, the impact of his feet hitting the ground softened.

He summons a tree further on, aiming for a branch up high. The tree is planted, the branch thankfully strong, and Nicholas is pulled off his feet instead. He goes soaring forward and cancels the spell, hitting the ground with a roll and continuing to run. He’s catching up, feet thudding into the swiftly moving shadow of the ape.

"Stay back!" Rafael cries, taking quick, panicked glances backwards at where Nicholas is right under the creature. "Nicky, stop-!"

Rafael trips over a rock he doesn’t see and Nicholas dives for him. The ape leaps down with its long arms spread wide like wings to blot out the moonlight. Its chest explodes open into a gape, showing stretched-out ribs and the muscle strung between them like a spider web as well as rows upon rows of circular teeth.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Rafael twists as he falls and raises his wand but jerks back when all he can see is a sheep’s black mane. He hits the ground hard on his back and Rito's front hooves slam down into the dirt on either side of Rafael's head, back legs still sparking from the enchantment kicking up as the ape comes down on them.

Rito cracks right through the teeth of the ape’s chest with enough force that it hurls the creature back, the heavy body thudding against a tree and toppling over limply.

The collision throws Rito forward over Rafael’s head and he hits the ground as Nicholas, absorbing the impact with a clumsy roll. Rafael is scrambling to his feet, grabbing Nicholas’ collar and dragging him a few steps before he realises Nicholas isn’t standing up.

Nicholas collapses as soon as Rafael lets go of him, heaving for breath as he spams numbing and cooling spells on his legs. They’re not broken, says the diagnostic spell, but that feels like a blatant fucking lie.

"Do you know what it is?" Rafael pants, moving protectively in front of Nicholas with his wand still raised at the weakly twitching creature.

"No," Nicholas lies and he watches it shudder as it dies.

He sits up slowly and clutches at his own chest. He wonders what it's going to feel like to be hit with his own kick as the death curse rebounds and kills him.

From what he remembers, the ape is sacred, not just from its role in hunting bad people -or indiscriminately going after all Dark creatures- but also because whoever kills it has that injury reflected back on them.

The creature is...cratered. Rito slammed right through its open and vulnerable chest. Nicholas can't heal such a devastating injury, and even if he tried, he doesn't even know the first thing about healing a creature that isn’t a werewolf.

"I left the bag," Nicholas says faintly, clambering to his feet on shaky legs and taking a staggered step away from Rafael. "I need to go."

"What?" Rafael looks away from the creature and frowns at Nicholas. "What's wrong? Why…why did you tell me not to kill it?"

"I'll just get the bag," Nicholas repeats, twisting his arm away from Rafael's grab. He doesn't know how long he has until the ape finally dies, he needs to leave now or Rafael will have to watch. "Go - go and find-"

Hearth's bright flame comes streaking across the dark underbrush of the forest, muzzle pulled back from his teeth. The fox isn't looking at the two boys; his sight is locked on the ape spluttering out its last few wet breaths.

Nicholas takes a step forward. Would Stavros know about the creature? Would he know what happens?

"Hearth!" Nicholas cries, stumbling into the fox's way. "Raffy is hurt, he's - he's really injured!"

"I'm fine," Rafael interrupts, confused. "Nicholas, just tell me what's wrong."

"Hearth!" Nicholas screams, diving for the fox that hurtles past but the animal leaps over Nicholas' outstretched arms and, mid-stride, Hearth explodes into Stavros with his wand already aimed at the ape.

Stavros doesn't look panicked, he doesn't even look angry. He knows what he's doing and his expression is firm.

But Stavros' spell takes a moment to form because he's going for a killing blow, something clean and quick. Nicholas' spell is faster, a crude cutting hex that he overpowers. It slings past Stavros' shoulder, carves open the ground and gouges through trees that groan and crack but are too wide to topple over.

The creature takes the brunt of it, ripped open diagonally from hip to shoulder, the two halves separating completely in a spill of blood and organs thankfully shadowed and vague.

But this happens as Stavros' spell swallows the head in a faint orange tint and the brain shuts down in instantaneous death.

Silence, with only Stavros' panting to be heard. The fight chased off all the other animals and the insects are quiet in hiding.

Nicholas slowly gets to his feet as Stavros turns to look at him. Nicholas takes a step and then they're meeting in the middle, clinging tightly, Stavros' arms an almost crushing force and Nicholas grabs fistfuls of Stavros' clothes.

"What is happening?!" Rafael snaps, eyes moving wildly between the corpse, the two boys and the forest around them. "What - where is the threat? Just tell me! I can fix this!"

"The killing blow is reflected," Stavros says in relief and holds out a hand to call Rafael closer. "I hit first."

"You didn't, did you?" Nicholas blurts out, pulling back only enough to search Stavros' expression. Except he doesn't need to see, does he? If Stavros is this calm, of course he thinks Nicholas is safe.

Rafael ignores Stavros' hand and storms right past them both to stand over the body. Rafael wraps the ape’s corpse in sigils and packs it tight with a generalised stasis used for slowing curses. "Is it a rebound curse specifically?" he demands with a snarl. "When does it activate?"

"Soon-ish," Stavros chuckles, looking so fond as he watches Rafael construct a curse-breaking rune chain around the creature. "Hey, come here. One more kiss?"

Nicholas' chest stings like a paper cut. "There are spellcrafting books in the bag," he says and pulls out of Stavros' arms. "I'll bring them over."

Rafael's head snaps around. "Do you feel something?"

Stavros blinks. "I hit first. I...killed it..."

Rafael's diagnostic spells are already spilling out of his wand onto the ape until one lights up white and he uses another spell to pull the curse's rune sequence from the corpse's bones so he can start to dismantle it.

Stavros is looking down at Nicholas' torso, watching the clothes soak up the blood, the diagonal line appearing slowly. Stavros' expression of an easy calm cracks open, twisting his beauty into rage.

"I'll get the bag," Nicholas wheezes but he's doubling over and can't stop Stavros from dragging him to the ground.

Stavros disintegrates Nicholas’ tops and spams quick healing spells to keep the wound from opening further in between casting more complex and powerful healing to start closing the injury. It’s working, but Stavros only knows how to deal with shallow injuries, so it’s only working to buy more time.

Nicholas is gasping, already limp and shaking from the rapidly building pain of being cut open and sealed before being ripped open again. Stavros hits him with numbing and pain relief spells too but he's more focused on the wound to stop Nicholas from dying.

Nicholas weakly clutches at Stavros' leg and his other hand digs into the dirt, gripping leaf litter and a fern. He's taking deep, hitching breaths but his vision is blurring from tears of pain and he thinks Rafael might be talking but his voice is faded because it hurts so much and nonononono please don’t watch this.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Nicholas lies through gritted teeth, trying not to scream. “Maybe – maybe just take a walk for a bit. I’ll be – be okay.”

Stavros half folds himself over the tear across Nicholas’ chest, chanting something in Ancient Greek. It’s a curse or an insult or maybe even a prayer. Flowers bloom against Nicholas’ skin, growing out of the ground in shapes and colours that don’t exist, that Stavros dreams up, and the soft petals curl against Nicholas to try and hold him together.

The Greeks give offerings to Persephone when they beg favours from Hades. It’s the start of every sacrificial ritual. But Hades takes payment too and Stavros is sacrificing himself.

“Don’t,” Nicholas wheezes, choking on something wet that he struggles to swallow back down. “Don’t, please.” He keeps blinking but the tears cloud his vision. Shadows are swimming on the edges of his view and circling closer. He wishes they were both hugging him right now. “I’ll wait-” he coughs out and then keeps coughing, choking.

He tries to tell them that he’ll wait in golden fields of reeds for his soulmates to arrive, and the three of them will spend paradise together. But that’s not very important, is it? They’ll find each other again. What he really needs to tell them is-

"I love you," Nicholas splutters through the blood in his throat because he needs them to know. He wants his last words on this earth to be about how much he cares about them. What a worthy cause to die for. "Love you, love you, loveyoulove-"

"Don't!" Stavros barks out, his hunched form a blur over Nicholas, lit by bursts of spell colour. "Don't. Not now, I'm - I'm - I can-"

"-loveyoulo...veyou, love you, lovelove-"

Nicholas just keeps saying it, past Rafael begging him to hold on a little more, past Stavros screaming at him to shutthefuckuppleasepleasefuck, past the pain of his skin splitting all the way open and his ribs cracking and his lungs filling with blood.

And then he finally, mercifully, passes out.