The Fires of Summer (first draft)

Axel begins to stir after a few hours. The cuts on his face are looking better, sealing into scabs now. The wounds on the rest of his body need looking at and re-dressing. Haley watches as Axel's eye slowly opens, half-lidded and weary, then as he shakily props himself up and sits back against the headboard, running a hand over the bandages on his body and wincing when he ghosts over a sore spot. There's a solemn look on his face that only deepens when he faces Haley. Neither of them say a thing, sharing a tense silence.

Haley gets the bag of medical equipment and takes the cleaning solution and the bandages. Axel knows what to do, unwrapping the bandages from his body. His bruises have gotten more prominent, painting his body all shades of blue and purple, and most of his wounds still look pretty bad. Haley doesn't want to be so close to him when he's awake, but he wraps his injuries again regardless, his hands gentle and full of care even though he doesn't want them to be. That tug inside of him feels so satisfied taking care of Axel but he can't stand it, feeling guilty to even be in the same room as him.

When he's done, he heads for the door, turning back only to say, "We're going to be at Wolf's Rest soon, so be ready."

Haley heads upstairs and gets to work on making a move. It proves no easier to get back out on the water alone than it did to dock, but soon enough he's back on the water. At some point Axel comes out, dressed in his bloody shirt and jacket, stumbling to the railing which he uses to hold himself up. Haley takes no pity on him. He'd gotten himself in this situation in his rage towards his family, and that's entirely his own fault.

Haley pushes down the part of himself that screams that it's his fault, too.

The journey to Wolf's Rest is brief. As he approaches the dock, he changes his form to be female. He realises that it's not a flawless disguise - more people know that he's capable of taking on a female form now, but it's better than nothing. Axel is in no state to help him dock, so once again he has to do it alone, but he's getting the hang of it by now.

He lowers the steps onto the dock and, though he really doesn't want to, wraps an arm around Axel to help him walk. Yet again he can't help but notice just how light the man is, his weight barely causing any problem for Haley as he goes. He waits for the guards to look away before slipping past them and into the back streets of Wolf's Rest. As he passes through he sees a notice board and upon it a wanted poster of Axel. He grabs the poster and crumples it in his hand, throwing it onto the floor and stepping on it. He sees a small smirk form on Axel's lips. Haley feels a rush of anger seeing him act so smug after everything.

It's quiet near the castle. Haley wonders how Lord Canis is coping with the news of his father's death, if he's preparing for war or seeing that he has an opportunity to challenge Soren's right to the throne. He stares up at its grey walls as he pulls Axel past it, wondering what it's like to be a ruler.

Entering into the forest, Haley can hear the life all around him. As he looks around he notices ravens sitting on branches, staring down at Axel with their dark eyes.

The way up the mountain is difficult to traverse with Axel in the state he's in. Haley has to help him up inclines, pulling him along and steadying him when he wobbles.

As they travel, Haley begins to hear the sound of something following them. Axel seems to notice too, his ears twitching. He tries to walk faster but he can't keep up the pace, his body heavy with injuries. Haley eventually just stops, grabbing Axel's dagger without any resistance and turning around, leaving Axel for just a little while to stand alone. The trees around him are like tall arms with many spindly fingers, reaching out for them both.

From the trees emerges a black creature. Haley feels sick. It's a huge spider, with glistening obsidian fangs and eight shining eyes. He can't tell where it's looking, but he has no doubt that Axel is looking like a very easy snack.

Haley doesn't hesitate, rushing towards the creature and jabbing his blade in its face. Before he can make contact its fangs reach for him but he dodges backwards out of the way, slicing again at one of its pointed legs. The blade cuts right through it at a joint, leaving the creature with one less leg. It hisses loudly, charging at Haley. One of its fangs brushes his arm and pain explodes from it like he's been stung. When he looks the area is not only bleeding but the skin around it is slightly inflamed. His arm starts to throb.

Not letting it stop him, he runs in and plunges his blade into the creature's head. That seems to do the trick, because it swaggers then falls onto the ground. When he pulls the dagger out it's covered in a nasty yellow-green substance that drips slowly off it.

Haley's arm doesn't feel good. He looks at the injury to see the inflammation has already spread along his arm. I need Keaberos.

He returns to Axel, who found a spot leaning against a tree, and he wraps his uninjured arm back around him. Haley's whole body feels heavier, but he braves it to continue their journey, knowing that they don't have any more time to waste.

Why did something have to attack? he wonders to himself as they walk. Just my luck. But, on the bright side, it's better that it got him and not Axel. The changeling's injuries are in no need of being irritated any further, especially not with poison.

It's dark by the time they reach the temple. Haley stops in front of it, a frown forming on his face. They don't have much time to spare, but... a prayer won't hurt anybody. Usually he wouldn't let anyone witness him being so vulnerable as to try reach out to his former goddess, but he knows he needs her comfort more than ever right now. Haley pulls Axel inside and sets him down on one of the seats at the back, then he goes to the front. Usually prayer takes place on a mat, but anything that this temple once held is long gone alongside the Raven Queen.

He looks up to her as he speaks. "My Queen, please, if you can hear me, send me your strength and your courage. I feel so useless down here, and everything around me seems to keep going wrong. Where do I go from here? My old life is gone and I won't be safe anywhere on Aldelis once they start putting my face up in their cities. I never wanted to be on the run."

Haley doesn't know what he expected, but when there's no response he can feel his face getting hot. Tears start to roll down his cheeks.

"Where did you go?" he asks, balling his hands into fists. "I get cast out and you disappear - it's just not fair. I didn't want to leave you. I didn't do anything wrong, I just wanted to save Michael. You forgive me, don't you? You're the only one that never did anything to hurt me. I miss you so much."

It's silent apart from his sobbing, and he curls in on himself, pressing his forehead to the cold ground. He wants nothing more than to hear his Queen's voice again, to have any kind of guidance from her at all. She would know what to say and do and her soothing voice would wash over him and make everything okay again.

Haley eventually manages to calm his breathing, and he looks up at the statue again. She looks so beautiful. Though her eyes are obscured by the veil, the lower half of her face is exactly as he remembers her, as though whoever sculpted her had seen her for themself. The statue of himself, he knows, probably is crafted from his exact appearance. He remembers appearing often to followers of the Raven Queen to offer his comfort or to aid them through the process of mourning for loved ones. They would always look to him with such fear at first. He wonders if they'd really been expecting him to show up for them, even if word of his appearances had spread among believers.

With his heart heavy he finally manages to stand, wiping his eyes. Haley hopes that wherever the Raven Queen is she heard his words, even if she can't extend any help towards him.

"Please keep us all safe," he whispers to her, then he turns around and goes to help Axel back out the door.

The rest of the journey goes well, aside from the pain now spreading through Haley's body. He breathes a sigh of relief when he sees the cabin come into view. But it's not his destination. He trudges past the wooden building, through the small stretch of forest until he comes to Keaberos' tall building. There's the noise of light chatter coming from behind, so Haley follows the path running along the side of the building to the room him and Axel had been eavesdropping on all that time ago. Inside he sees Keaberos having tea with Grey and Julien, and the second he sees Axel and Haley at the door he jumps to his feet.

"You're back," Keaberos says as he comes to grab Axel, who barely moves as he's passed along. "What happened?"

"His blood magic," Haley answers. Having the added weight gone is a relief. "I got bit by a giant spider, too. I think it had venom."

Keaberos nods, pulling Axel into the house and through a door. Haley follows. Inside is a room with closed panels and pretty ink art hung up on the wall. Inside are beds on the floor with enough space for a person beside them, blocked off from one another with panels of the same size. Keaberos lies Axel down in one and helps him to take off his clothes until he's just in his underwear. Haley hadn't invaded on his privacy when he'd been bandaging his wounds, but now he wishes he had, because there are some deep wounds on Axel's legs, no doubt the source of his struggle to walk.

Keaberos grabs a medical bag hanging by the door and gets to work on properly cleaning and treating the wounds, making Axel drink some strange liquid that makes him cough. He summons his fire to check Axel's pulse. Then, he pauses. "You've missed your anthoalgiaemia injection."

Haley realises that there are petals on Axel's lips. He must have coughed them up.

Keaberos rushes out of the room, leaving the two of them there. Haley can't help but be angry at Axel. He doesn't deserve to make Haley worry. It's just not fair.

When Keaberos returns he has a small wooden box in his hands. He kneels down at Axel's side and opens it to reveal a needle and a little vial. Keaberos prepares the needle and then injects Axel in his upper arm with the medication. Axel doesn't even wince.

Keaberos has another needle and vial, which he prepares just the same. This one, though, doesn't seem to be for Axel. Keaberos stands up and walks over to Smock. "This is just some antidote for vuno megarachne. You're not afraid of needles, are you?"

"No," Haley answers, taking off his coat and rolling up his sleeve. Keaberos is quick and efficient, the initial prick only hurting a little bit, and immediately there's a little relief, the weight in his arm beginning to lift though it keeps throbbing.

"I'm glad you're back home," Keaberos says, "but I can tell something isn't right."

"Don't worry about it, Keaberos," Haley looks away from his green eyes, frowning. He feels too guilty to talk about everything in front of Axel, though there's no doubt he'll explain everything soon.

"Alright," the redhead frowns, turning to look back at Axel. "Whatever happened with Axel, we're still your friends, Haley. Don't forget that."

"I won't," he offers a half-hearted smile. "Can I join you all for tea?"

"Of course," Keaberos nods. "Go with the others, I'm going to tend to Axel for now. Will you join me for a check-up tomorrow?"

"Okay," he agrees before he heads back into the room with Grey and Julien. Grey looks especially worried.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asks.

"I think so," Haley responds. He doesn't particularly feel like talking about Axel. He pours himself some tea, letting the herbal scent waft through his nose. It's not too hot so he starts drinking right away, closing his eyes and thinking back to his room on Pirate Island. He thinks to that night there, talking to Axel about his children. Silently he wishes he could go back before any of this happened, to having his hair caressed and to having soft lips on his own.

But it feels now that that is a mere fantasy, something that will never happen again.