Axel and Aria arrived back in their camp well after sunset. The stars twinkled brightly through the canopy of the jungle. The pairs of heavily laden packs were put down with care, one full of scales while the other held the meat and core of the beast. Since they didn’t have the supplies to preserve the meat for transport, Axel planned to cook and eat it tonight, finishing Aria’s cycle and, if he was lucky, completing his foundational work.

As they cooked, the aroma of the serpent’s meat filled the air, mingling with the earthy scent of the forest. The fire crackled softly, casting a warm glow on their faces. Aria turned to Axel, her eyes reflecting the flickering flames. “Aria thinks you should have the core. Aria thinks it would help you after what you said about your body.”

Axel was a little stunned. With the core, Aria could finish her second cycle that night. Carefully replying to her, Axel asked, “Are you sure?”

Aria nodded, her expression serious. “Yes, Aria is sure. You need it more than Aria does right now. Aria can wait.”

Axel felt a surge of gratitude and something deeper. “Thank you, Aria. This means a lot to me.”

They continued cooking in companionable silence, the feeling of growing closer to each other grew as time passed. As they ate, Axel could feel the energy from the serpent’s meat coursing through his body, adding much needed materal to strengthening him. When they finished, Aria handed him the core, its dark, almost iridescent surface glinting in the firelight.

“Here,” she said softly. “say Ahh!” with an Ahh, Aria popped the hot core into Axel's mouth. After a bit of moving around in his mouth as it was a little to hot Axel chewed and swallowed. He then brought up his journal health data and saw the sheer potency of the blessing at work. The strength and potency were making quick use of the materal in his system. They both quickly then sat and ate the meat to add materials to their bodies. Axel with the help of the core worked through almost 70% of the snake's meat with Arias's blessing.

With the food done, the pair sat outside the cave looking at the clear night sky shoulder to shoulder. Feeling the warmth from Aria, Axel turned slowly to Aria and with a genital caress of his hand on her cheek brought her closer for a kiss. Aria moved in and as their lips touched things moved quickly, clothes were lost and as they made love under the watch of the stars it seemed almost like the sky was celebrating them as the sky was filled with streaking stars. At first ones and twos, then as time went on, the sky was filled with streaks of celestial objects.

-----

Hours later, as the pair lay there exhausted, both noticed the sky was full of falling stars.

“They are beautiful,” Aria said, looking at them in a delight haze. Axel, coming back to reality, looked at the stars and a sense of horror filled him. “We need to pack and leave now!” With fear-filled urgency, Axel gathered his clothes, gear, and bags. He then moved to the fire and covered it with dirt as Aria finished changing and collecting her gear.

“What’s wrong? Why is Aria hurrying? It’s only a few hours to daybreak.”

“We need to get out of the forest and to a village as a beast tide is going to occur soon. Whenever there is a star shower, it drives the beasts into a mating frenzy. They will rampage throughout the jungle for food and to impress a mate."

Leaving the cave and having broken camp, the pair hurried through the jungle in the rising light of the suns. As they moved, the sounds of frenzied beasts grew louder, echoing through the trees. The urgency of their flight was palpable, each step driven by the need to reach safety before the beasts truly began their rampage.

Aria suddenly stopped Axel and, with several flaps of her wings, gathered air into a compressed ball, shooting it into the brush. “Fool Aria once, you nasty creature, you will not fool Aria twice with the same tricks.”

The blast of air knocked a Twilight Stalker into the air, and Axel, with an ease he would not have thought possible a week ago, skewered it on the return fall. While the meat and core would have been valuable, they had no time to spare and started running again.

They cleared the jungle and reached the hilly area outside it. The dense foliage gave way to rolling hills, and the air grew cooler and fresher. The sounds of wildlife faded, though still present and growing in volume. With long strides, Axel ran while Aria guided him from the air. The miles melted away in his loping run, its cadence meant for endurance running over speed until they made it to the main road between Jungleheart Village and Canopy Village.

The road was crowded with people moving towards the village, their faces etched with anxiety. The sound of footsteps, murmurs of conversation, and the occasional cry of a child filled the air. The earthy scent of the road mingled with the smell of sweat and fear. In the distance, the roars of frenzied beasts echoed through the trees, a constant reminder of the danger they were fleeing.

The guards at the gate were not even checking the people coming in, only trying to hurry them along as the gates would be sealed at the first sign of a beast above the Novice Tier. The village gate was sturdy, the walls tall and imposing. The guards’ tense expressions reflected the urgency of the situation as they ushered people inside.

Axel and Aria made it into the village and its safe walls. The relief on people’s faces was palpable as the gates creaked shut behind them. The sense of safety within the walls was a stark contrast to the chaos outside. With a sigh and slight panting, Axel looked to Aria and said, “We made it. Let’s find an inn to rest at and regroup. We will also need to reorganize our things; this pack is so off balance.”

Finding a Flame Seekers inn, an establishment meant for people on their journey while they were traveling from city to city to take trials or for when they went to the deeper areas to hunt for their cycle. Every village and city had several of these as it gave the Flame Seekers a place to stay that was affordable, keeping them off the street and out of trouble, mostly.

Getting a group room, Axel and Aria closed the door on a small room with four sets of bunk beds, a water bowl, and some cabinets to store things. Sitting on the bed with a sigh of exhaustion from the lack of sleep, exercise over the night, and a long run, Axel’s weary body was worn thin. Checking his proto core, Axel saw that it was only at about four percent but was now rising since he was not pushing his body. Aria stood and leaned against the other set of bunk beds, breathing in an accelerated manner.

Axel could see the sweat on her forehead and how her wings drooped when she was tired, so he found it weird that she was not sitting down.

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“You know you could take a seat if you are tired,” Axel said to her shaking her head. “Aria would rather stand as sitting is uncomfortable at the moment, after last night. Aria is glad her first was with her Hero but uncomfortable things are uncomfortable. Aria thinks she will use the bathing hour to clean up and get the sweat off.” With that, she stored her bag, grabbed some spare clothes, and went to the female bathhouse.

As she left, Axel could feel his ears were heated and while he would likely enjoy the memories for a long time, he shook his head hard to clear it and started organizing their things as it was all quickly packed and mixed up. After an hour, Aria returned with a bit of a swagger in her hips when she noticed Axel’s eyes on her.

“I think I will go clean up and see about laundry facilities as most of my clothes are dirty and stink of sweat.” With that said, Axel left the room, much to a smirking Aria.

----

After cleaning some clothes in the laundry area and taking a shower that even had hot water, Axel felt much more alive. Changed into clean, dry clothes and having had a hot shower, Axel returned to his room and found Aria folding up some clean clothing that she must have done while he was away. An awkward silence covered the room as the pair went about the task of repacking their gear and trying not to talk about what happened that night.

“So, would you like to be my mate officially?” Axel finally broke the silence. Aria froze as if she had been put in the sight of a predator that had movement-based sight. With a slow, deliberate turn, Aria looked at Axel in the eye with eyes full of awe and hunger.

“Are you sure? You do know about my kind, right?” Aria replied in a fragile voice. Aurelians were a race that, while having mates, were known to have dalliances with others making what was referred to as flocks. It was not a matter of not loving their mates but a nature or cultural thing, Axel was a little fuzzy on this point, which had them take on many lovers that gained their interest. If mated, they would always return to their mate after the exploration, but they did not see these things as cheating like a human would. They saw it as a celebration of life and tried to drag a mate into these situations as much as they could.

“I have heard about it, but you have grown into my heart, and I am not sure I want to live without you. I guess I will try the old trick of never letting you get bored so your wings will not wander away from me,” Axel replied with all the confidence of youth. After hearing this, Aria jumped on Axel and showed her love to the point the neighboring room hit the wall to tell them to calm down.

As the time after that was around dinner, the pair walked to the dining hall holding hands to get something that was not just grilled meat with some herbs rubbed on for flavor. They ordered a full meal with soup, bread, and pasta that tasted amazing. They chatted about nothing as they ate, filling each other in on their lives now that they were not just living in a cave having to always be on watch.

Then a pair of men walked in with a bang of the door and a swagger. The first was an Aurelian who had a strong build for his kind, he must be rather young based on the metallic feathers in his wings. The other was a Krellian who was wearing an eyepatch, he had a robust build also, likely taking a durability power from what Axel could guess, but the man could just be a bodybuilder liking the bulky look. They were laughing and talking loudly to each other about how their hunts had gone.

Axel would have likely not paid them any mind but for Aria freezing again. Axel looked over to her, and she seemed to be shivering and trying to make herself smaller. This was when his gift, or curse of memory, brought up the conversations they had in the cave over the week. Putting together who these two were, a crimson hue began to creep into his vision.

Axel also thought of another context of the hunts they were bragging about and based on the context in their words, the red took his vision. As if controlled by something else, Axel pushed his seat back and got to his feet in a fluid motion. This startled Aria as she looked at him, the fear present in her eyes was the last push he needed. He then strode through the dining hall almost viewing everything in a third person, locked onto the pair. His fist moved in a Snar punch to the back of the Aurelian’s head, dropping the man in an instant either unconscious or dead, and grabbing the Krellian by the neck before he registered what was happening.

Axel then, throwing a hard punch to the man’s stomach, that causing the wind to come out of his gills that Axel was currently holding shut with his hand, effectively strangling the man. As the man struggled in Axel’s grip confused, he was hammered again and again in the face. Blood covered Axel’s vision as the mans face deformed more and more, but he felt more in control of the rage than with Cades dual, likely due to the work he had done with his meditation and the growth of his foundation from the Shadowfang Serpent.

Axel then felt his arm stopped mid-punch as something powerful gripped his forearm. This caused a jolt in the rage as Axel looked over to see what or who stopped him. He saw an Enforcer holding his punch with one hand and very little effort. “You should stop now before I need to make you stop,” the Enforcer’s cold modulated voice came from the helmet. The helmets of Enforcers had voice changers to protect their identity. Using his will to force the rage back down, Axel looked the man in the eye and said,

“These are dishonorable scourges. They had tried to harm my mate in the past, and I will punish them to the fullness of my ability. Are you trying to stop me from this?” Axel’s voice was still cold with the rage.

“The reason I am not arresting you right now for assault is because this pair is known of, and we had already gathered a case on them. Also, your mate over there stopped me and told me what happened. Release him, and I will take him and his friend away for punishment. If you go any farther, I will be forced by my oath to stop you, and I would like not to have to do that,” the cold voice came from the helmet.

Axel, letting reason take hold, forced his hand open, dropping the sack of meat to the ground and stepping back. This is when the horror of what he had done crept in. He looked at the Enforcer and said, “Am I to go with you to be put in holding?” Axel only to got a shake of the head. “I will then clean up and return to my room.”

Axel left on autopilot to the bathhouse with people stepping out of his way. He cleaned his face and hands to find that he had broken his hand this time. Pushing the growing pain and warnings from his Journal to the back of his head, he returned to the empty room. The dark intrusive thoughts returned, and he could just imagine the terror in Aria’s eyes after seeing what he had done. With a heavy breath, Axel sat heavily down with his back to the wall under the window. The sun streaked through the window, but instead of adding light to the room, it only seemed to deepen the shadows.

After an unknown time, the door cracked open for a pair of silver eyes to peek in to see him sitting there. A moment later, the door was thrown open, and he was tackle-hugged by a blond missile. “Aria was so worried about you. Were you in here the whole time? Aria was looking over the dining area and even bribed someone to look in the men’s bathhouse for you!” the fast-talking voice said.

“You scared Aria when you went up to those two.” She stopped when she felt him flinch at the word scared. “You did not scare Aria that way, fool. Aria thought that they would hurt you! They were at least of the second Cycle of the Novice tier, and you are only of the first cycle!” she scolded him.

In a soft voice, “I have not even done my first trial, Aria,” Axel admitted. “My strength comes from a proto core as I was born defective. My body was born so weak that a gentle touch could break my bones. It was thanks to my father taking a Trial of Ordeals to save me. Now I have strength that far exceeds what my body should have, but it comes with the crimson backlash of rage. This was why I didn’t want you to hold me at night. I, in a nightmare, could hurt or …” Before he could finish, his mouth was covered by hers.

“Stop, Aria cares not at all for that talk. Aria’s Mate is the Hero. The one who, in Aria’s darkest moments, brings her safety. In the time Aria has known Axel, he has never come close to injuring her, besides being a little rough last night, but Aria liked that.” She then gently grabbed his chin when he started looking away. “Aria has no fear that you will hurt her. Aria knows that you will use your strength to protect and stop the bad people like you did today!”

Aria then turned and forced Axel to embrace her and said in a barely audible whisper, “Thank you for ending Aria’s nightmare.” With that said, the pair sat quietly in the darkening room, comforted by each other’s company, falling asleep holding each other.