Page 24 of Phoenix Chosen 3

“I think we should continue,” Airos says. “We’d be testing our fortune by staying here for the night. I know of a village less than three schoenus from here. We may be able to find shelter there.”

“I have no problem with leaving,” Tyler says, “but are you really good to keep moving, Airos?”

“I’m fine,” he says, though I can see how weary he is. He smiles at me. “Kalistratos can carry me.”

“No,” I say flatly.

“Then, perhaps I’ll take you up on that kiss, that’ll rejuvenate me?—”

“Come on, you phony monk, let’s get moving,” I say, pushing him by the shoulders.

We pass the lake and find where the Delos tributary picks up again. Here, we pause to wash ourselves in the cold water. Airos walks a short distance down the river and closes his eyes as he sits against a rock.

I help Tyler remove his robes down to his underwear. The wound is closed, but very red. I cup a handful of the stream water, carefully press the side of my palm just beneath his armpit, and let the water pour down his side over the slash marks. He winces.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

He shakes his head. “Nah, it’s not bad. Just stings.”

“I should never have even let this happen.”

“Hey. It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have wandered away like that. I got us into that mess. I just hate the feeling of not being able to do anything. I don’t want to be a burden.”

I run the back of my fingers against his bare bicep. “You’re no burden, Tyler.”

“I know you’re supposed to protect me and all of that, but I have a real difficult time reconciling the idea of being some kind of damsel—dude—in distress all the time. It’s not what I’m used to at all. I’ve always been a man who takes care of himself.”

“And I would never seek to take that away from you,” I say. “In truth, I need all the help I can get. I’m not doing a very good job of it.” I smile at him. “Here. To replace the one you lost.”

Tyler smiles back when he sees the sling. He turns it over in his hands, feeling the leather. “Where’d you get this?”

“Maybe you don’t want to know…”

His nose crinkles. “Aw, Kalistratos… Don’t tell me you pulled this thing off a dead guy.”

“Take it, you need a weapon.”

He gives me a look, laughs, and tucks it into his belt. Then he takes my hand and squeezes it. “You’re doing great, alright? Don’t worry. I know you’d never let anything happen to me. And I would never let anything happen to you, either.” He kisses my cheek, then whispers into my ear, “I’m gonna give you ahellof a reward when we reach our destination.”

His words send an immediate pulse of excitement through my cock, and I leap to my feet. “Airos! Time to go!”

It’s nearing sunset, and signs of the village are becoming more frequent. We pass a monument to the god of travelers, well weathered and overgrown with weeds, and on a rocky hill are the remains of a long-abandoned temple, its stone columns sitting staggered like stacks of coins. We step onto a narrow roadstamped with horse and cart tracks. I hear goats in the distance, and the smell of a cooking fire drifts lightly on the wind.

“It seems we’re being observed,” Airos says calmly.

I sense it as well. We stop walking.

“Hello!” Airos calls, raising his free hand.

A twig snaps, and a frail old man holding a drawn bow emerges from the trees. His arms are quavering, like he can barely maintain the weight of the draw.

“Come no further!” he says.

“Put it down, grandfather,” I reply. “You’re going to hurt someone. Probably yourself.”

“Only you,” he says shakily.

“I doubt that.”

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