One unlucky day

They were scared. scared of leaving the world too soon, scared of feeling the cold steel and sliver press against their body once more, scared of leaving the village with no defender and open season to any of the cowardly and superstitious but most importantly, they were scared of him, Zeveres.

Zeveres the mighty, a powerful hero that had slain many great foes, defended people from the smallest outpost to the biggest empire, rescued whoever or whatever and did it all with a smile and go lucky attitude. The one thing he couldn't do however, was be in a relationship.

He was so used to being the hero all the time, ever since he was a child that he couldn't wrap his mind around being taken care of, whether from his family, friends to even his own lover. The need to help and protect was so great that everytime that they did something for him, he would repay them a hundred fold and they loved him but those closest to the hero saw the cracks, cracks of pressure, cracks of stress, cracks of time.

On one of his Adventures he had met someone, a beautiful man with eyes that reminded of the cavern in which he found miraculous crystals. The man had noticed him and felt a sense of ease and passion rise as he looked at him, they both had longed for each other even though they had just met.

Before they could even approach the other, a massive creature had burst through the wall of the tavern. The creature had been covered in fur, wearing tattered rags and a wolf-like head, the creature was a lycan. Zeveres had reached behind himself for his sword but he was stunned, he looked behind and remembered that his friends had told to just have fun, with NO gear.

People running around them, the creature let out a deafening roar that halted people for nearly a full minute, almost all of the people. One man had slowly crept to the creature, knife in hand. After the roar he rushed the thing, jumping onto Its back and stabbing its neck.

Zeveres was in shock but he spared no time and rushed the creature as well, hands open with magic within them. The creature had thrashed and tried the man off but couldn't reach him. Hearing something, they turned to see Zeveres inches away from them with glowing hands and lunged for him, fangs brought to bear.

"Be careful" the man on the wolf's back yelled, worried for the hero's safety. Zeveres couldn't help but chuckle as he heard the concern thrown at him, him? Be in danger? Impossible. He saw the lycan rushing towards and he ducked under it as it flew over him, reeling his arm back, the man on the lycans back and saw the thing go flying into the ceiling as he fell off.

Before he hit the ground, he felt himself be grabbed by something, something soft but firm. He had turned his head and saw him, Zeveres, standing still and locked eyes with him. It was as if he was saved by an angel.

They both had stared for nearly 20 minutes into each other's eyes and then getting closer, their lips gently pressed against each other.

"The name is Lukas and you are Zeveres, right?" the man, now named Lukas, asked, his eyes still looking like he was drunk on love. Zeveres, looking the same, just simply nodded.d, not able to even understand or speak words at the time. Lukas just laughed but not in a condescending way but a soft, loving way that mesmerized Zeveres in more ways then one.

After that day, Lukas and Zeveres started to see each other more and more between Adventures, heists, and even other taverns. The more they were around the more they started to notice that their love for the other grew to the point where they couldn't ignore it any longer.

During one mission to save a kingdom's last heir, the two found a quiet place from everyone else and made more love then either one had made before, finding places that were hidden to even themselves and put them in such a tired state afterwards that when they returned it was no wonder what they did.

The two had become a couple, buying a house together and thought of having a family together but there was always one problem that Zeveres had. Everytime that Lukas wanted to do something that was physically demanding or tiring, Zeveres tried to forbid him from doing it for fear that he would hurt himself.

Lukas had tried to do many things like train but Zeveres wanted to oversee him to make sure that he didn't hurt himself so before he got any real progress, Zeveres would stop him or when he tried to upgrade his armor and weapons, if Lukas had flinched once or had a small cut then Zeveres step in or even when he tried to put banners for a friend's party, Lukas just wiped his forehead but Zeveres pulled him off the ladder gently and put him on ground while he hung up the banners.

He knew that Zeveres could get overprotective and wanted to keep everyone he loved safe after his parents death but he could handle himself, he was an assassin for Avalon's sake! One day, everyone that Zeveres was close with had tried to set a surprise party for him because of all the hard work he did. While Lukas was setting some stuff up, he had received a letter for when the event would take place and where, a little joke was also left in that made him chuckle but unfortunately, Zeveres saw him chuckle and began to get suspicious of him.

For the majority of the day, Zeveres had spied on him, making sure to see and study his every move to the point where Lukas could barely wash his clothes without Zeveres right behind him. He tried to ignore it but he couldn't any longer, and Especially after Zeveres literally went and used a tracking spell on his clothes after he was done washing them. He asked what Zeveres was doing, Zeveres tried to hide it but he was concerned that Lukas was seeing someone else.

Lukas could barely believe it. Zeveres, the man of his dreams, was so paranoid that he would put a tracking spell on his clothes instead of just asking. He felt betrayed, violated, and even hurt that Zeveres didn't even have enough trust to ask him about it for fear that he would be lying.

He couldn't stand it anymore, he had enough of it all! He still loved Zeveres but he was tired of him acting like a hero all the time and trying to protect him from things that didn't need his protection and now he couldn't even trust him enough to ask if he was trying to see someone else, he was done and made that known to Zeveres.

They argued for hours and hours, each word thrown at the other hurt them in ways that no weapon or foul magic ever could, calling each other liars, bastards, and finally Zeveres ended with it "I'm sorry that I just wanted to protect you, like I always do." He nearly yelled this but it was the last straw for Lukas.

Lukas looked at Zeveres with rage and anger in his eyes, not even feeling a hint of pity or empathy. He now was centimeters away from Zev, looking into his soul with nothing but anger that shocked Zev to his soul. He shouted " you're not sorry but i'm not mad that you protect people, you've always tried to protect people but i'm mad that you didn't trust me enough to ask!" Zev took a step but Lukas kept going, continuing his verbal assault. "the only reason why you are even a hint of sorry about this is because you were caught and didn't want trouble but you got it!"

Lukas was panting, slightly tired from his little rant but he wasn't finished just yet. "But the real reason that you didn't trust me enough to ask me about this is because you never trusted me in the first place!" Zev had tried to come up with an excuse, some plan about just making sure that Lukas wasn't being manipulated but he saw through it all.

In a fit of rage, Lukas stormed off, leaving marks in the wooden floor. Zev tried to go after him but before he could, Lukas had come back with a paper in his hand, the same letter that Zev saw laugh at earlier. Zev was concerned until Lukas threw the letter at him.

Zev caught the letter and looked confused, wondering why he was thrown this but then Lukas nodded to him, signaling for him to open and read it. Zev, with hesitation, opened the letter and as he read it, his concern and worry was replaced with a level of guilt and regret unimaginable. Raising his head, he could see Lukas's anger and irritation rise from just the way he looked at him.

He tried to step forward but Lukas stepped back. Lukas felt anger and hurt towards Zev but he couldn't release that on him. "I'm not mad anymore. Honestly I don't even care anymore because it's not worth it." Lukas had given up, he was done trying to get Zev to trust him and he was just done with it all.

Lukas grabbed his satchel and made his way to the door but Zev stopped him, holding his wrist. "Lukas please just - " Before Zeveres could finish, Lukas had yanked his wrist away and smacked Zeveres in the face.

Zeveres held his face, confused and unsure with what just happened. He looked to Lukas but what he saw was something that scared him more than any monster could, he looked into Lukas's eyes and there was nothing there, no anger, sadness, not even disgust, just empty.

Lukas turned around and walked out of the door, no hesitation, no looking back, just leaving. Zeveres sat there, holding his face and alone with his mind, again.

Months had passed, many questioning as to where Lukas went and what happened between him and Zev. Saddened, Zeveres could never answer these questions as they brought too much pain on top of his major grief so he ignored them, figuring it better to ignore instead of dealing with them head on.

After the fight, Zeveres was never the same. He had lost the go-lucky attitude with the award winning smile that he always had, possessing a much more cold and stoic outlook that shocked many across the lands.

He tried to put on a mask, to hide his hurt, pain, regret, and guilt but many could see through his lies as there was a coldness that was never present before. He had stopped going on a lot of Adventures and spent more time on his own investigation.

Trying to find Lukas as he had disappeared from the face of the earth after their argument about the letter. He tried to look for anyone that Lukas knew but he couldn't find anything about them either but he never caved, constantly searching and searching and with every dead end he put more and more effort until he didn't eat, sleep, or had to use the restroom.

His party members had worried about him but he just ignored their concern, simply thanking them for even having the effort to do so. He had kept searching until he got a letter from the king of Avalon, saying that he needed assistance.

At first he ignored the summons, figuring that some other adventurers could do it but their party decided that he needed something to get his mind off of Lukas and figured this was a way to do it. They had talked with Zeveres and despite his numerous protests, he came along for his friends and to provide help to the people of Avalon, not the royalty.

Taking a carriage, they spent a week-long trip to the kingdom without stopping. As they came into the kingdom, many of its citizens had looked at them in awe but they were mainly looking at Zev and he waved back, utilizing the fake smile that he practiced over and over.

They parked their carriage and walked into the palace. It took them a while but they arrived on the throne in front of the king himself, the man who had seen far better days and looked horribly distraught.

His looks of pure terror and restlessness was replaced with joy and hope as he noticed the heroes enter. Leaping from his throne and rushing to them, he shook Zeveres's hand. "Thank the gods that you are here, I was worried you wouldn't get my message." Zeveres had been slightly startled by the king's innate speed but ignored it for now. "Of course, we are the champions of the land after all. So why have you summoned us?"

The king then let go of Zeveres's hand and sat back on his throne. "As you know, it is possible to have magical beasts protect cities and villages." he said this with a level of concern still lacing his voice. He then looked at a guard and signaled him to hand something to Zeveres.

"The problem is that this one village has recently obtained a very powerful dragon as its protector and they have not accepted any level of sanction, in fact the creature has burned any and all patrols we send." the paper that the guard was a map to the village that the king talked of. "Now I don't want the creature to be killed or the village unprotected but we need this creature to be under some level of control so that it doesn't gain any ideas to hurt the village itself." The heroes had looked somewhat wary but decided to follow the king's wishes and left to find the village and sanction the dragon.

As they were on the roads, Zeveres looked at the map one last time and realized something that he didn't before, the village that they were traveling to was the same village that Lukas had come from. He couldn't believe how idiotic he was for not seeing it sooner.

They arrived at the village, the citizens barely noticing them. finding a place to stop, they exited the carriage and decided to split up, looking around for the entrance to the cave where the creature had made its lair.

Each of them had looked around, talking with some of the villagers, using spells, even digging around but they found nothing until Zeveres noticed something on the side of one of the houses, it looked like a simple drawing but Zeveres had a feeling it was something more. He touched the drawing and it began to open a stairway into the ground, showing that it was hidden in plain sight.

They entered, making sure to stay together as they didn't know what this creature was fully capable of. At the end of the stairs, there was a tunnel and at the end was a dim light.

They reached the end of the tunnel but before they could even leave it, a massive claw had reached in and grabbed Zeveres, leaving the other to yell his name. Zeveres had tried to escape the creature's grasp but he couldn't budge it, leading to the creature's laugh. "You hope to beat me? Cage me? You are more of a fool then I took you for." During the dragon's mocking, Zeveres had managed to free one hand and blasted the dragon's eye with ice.

As it roared in pain, its grasp loosened and Zeveres leapt out, landing on its head with his sword in hand. He tried to stab into the dragon's head but he knocked off before he could. The dragon had ignored its now lost eye and rushed to Zev, anger surging in its veins.

With a tail swipe, Zeveres was sent flying but he grabbed it, holding on for dear life. The dragon tried to get him off but Zev wouldn't budge, his grip tightening. He leapt from the tail on to its neck, the sword unsheathing from his back. The creature tried to slam its back into the walls of the lair but Zev was not stirred.

There was a glowing core on the back of its neck and Zev was merely inches away from it. He kept crawling to it and was finally on top of it. He raised his sword and stabbed into its weak spot, making the creature fall to the ground.

He jumped off of the neck and walked in front of the dragon, his blade dripping with its blood. His party had yelled at him to stop, to just cast the seal and they could leave but Zeveres was tired and he wasn't going to take another chance. He was right in front of it's only eye, blade readied and raised with nothing but anger in his eyes. The creature that had been able to burn down entire cities had now been quivering in fear.

Zev looked into its eye one last time and he was shocked at what he saw within. He dropped his blade and looked at the creature in shock. He reached out his hand to touch its scales. "Lukas?" the creature hadn't looked away or even tried to deny it and Zev's concerns were confirmed, he stepped away in pure shock and pain. Zev just looked at his hands, he hurt the one man that he cared for more than any one.

He picked up his blade, sheathing it and turning around. "I'm sorry, truly. I will talk with the king to try and not send any more patrols"

He then left the lair, leaving Lukas alone, again.