Out of Bounds and Beneath Dreams

Out of Bounds and Beneath Dreams
Part four…

I. You want something?
It was a three day journey to the vent into which Hiei and Ianto would descend into the pits of Dreams. Ianto had promised Hiei those three days before their decent, would e spent descending onto the deeps of pleasure. He promised that every moment that could be spared from the duties of running the ship he would be spend in Hiei’s arms, doing whatever it took to satisfy the demon’s lust.

The love-cruse however was interrupted, because it stormed the first day out, not just rain, but a full out, black skied, torrential rain, hundred foot wave, storm at sea. It lasted from the morning until the night and as can be imagined there were few spare moments for the blond to give away during this time. Nor was Hiei in the position to accept said time as the violent motions of the boat made him violently ill. It took him the better part of the next day to recover. In which time, the only contact he had with his fair haired companion was when he came into the cabin to wash his face with a cool rag and inquire about his health.

The third night proved to be the charm. Another storm was blowing in so Ianto made an executive decision to bring the ship into a cove and wait the storm out on dry land. It would cost them precious time, but there wasn’t much of a choice. Neither one of them would’ve been in any shape to make their decent after riding another storm at sea. So they anchored the Old Greg down in a lonely cove and found shelter in a disused fisherman’s shack. Hiei braved the drizzle preceding the storm to gather firewood, while the blond volunteered to make the shack more habitable.

Hiei returned to find a pleasant surprise sitting atop of their neatly arranged bed pallet; that is, Ianto. He wore a large flowing white shirt, which modestly covered him from collar to hip, and nothing else. It didn’t give Hiei’s imagination much to work with, but those slim pale legs where promising. Hiei tossed a few logs on the kindled flames in the small hearth and felt the warmth significantly rise in the one room shack.

“You want something?” Hiei said coarsely.

Ianto’s cheeks pinkened, “Oh, you don‘t want to right now….”

“I was playing coy, you idiot,” Hiei rolled his eyes as he started the task of removing his damp clothes, “To set a mood. Contrary to what you might think of me, I don’t always automatically jump my lovers and start humping.”

“Since when?” Ianto slipped and immediately clamped his hand over his mouth.

“Point,” Hiei noted, considering his history in the blonde’s presence. When he reunited with Kurama during their last visit to Dreams, it only took them under an hour to find themselves naked and sweaty between the sheets together. Of course, Ianto didn’t know about all the years he’d spent silently admiring the fox before that happened. Then again this time, Hiei had only been in Dreams for like half an hour before he pounced the blond, whom he barely knew, and forced a blowjob on him.

“So…?” Ianto queried as he fiddled with a lock of yellow hair. He was timidly watching Hiei disrobe. His eyes might have lingered longingly on Hiei’s muscled chest and powerful arms.

“Hn, aren’t we impatient,” Hiei teased. He slipped out of his leather pants and then slithered naked into the bed next to the blond. He tugged at the clothes that covered him, “What‘s this? Pretending to be shy?”

“Who’s pretending?” Ianto muttered, “I didn’t want to get cold that’s all. I’ll take it off now.” He reached for the buttons, but Hiei intercepted him.

“No let me,” he husked, running a palm up front of his thighs, “Damn, you are cold. I wouldn’t be offended if you wanted to leave it o--”

“No!” Ianto cut in, “Take it off me. I… want to feel your skin on mine.”

Hiei gladly accepted that. He deftly made short work of Ianto’s buttons. He pushed the fabric aside to expose his smooth musculature. “You’re more athletically built than I thought you’d be,” Hiei commented.

Ianto pulled a face, “I traveled through Dreams with a bunch of demonic punks, and you didn‘t think I‘d be athletic. What, would you rather me be a shinny wimp?”

“Not at all,” Hiei said, enthusiastically meeting Ianto’s lips.

Ianto arched his body into Hiei’s and hissed in pleasure as their skin met. Hiei hissed too, but his was partly shock. Ianto’s skin was so cold! The cold didn‘t bother Hiei-- he was birthed by an ice apparition after all. But was it really that chilly in the room? He contemplated leaving the bed to throw another log on the fire, but Ianto wasn’t letting him. The blond had his fingers hooked snuggly into Hiei’s back. The idea soon left Hiei’s head. With Ianto wiggling and moaning beneath him, there was only one thing he could think of and that was getting him to wiggle and moan some more.

Hiei slipped his hands down to pet Ianto’s hips. He used the gesture to coax the blond into lifting his legs so Hiei could fit between them. His hands smoothed down Ianto’s ass and dipped into the cleft to prod at his hole. That was where Hiei found something curious. His hole was already wet and slick. Hiei furrowed his brow and pressed two figures to the orifice. They went it with relative ease. He pulled his fingers out and then pressed them back in sharply, all the way to his knuckles. Ianto whelped in surprise and slight discomfort.

“You prepared yourself,” Hiei hissed into his ear, “you naughty thing.”

“I-- I wasn’t sure if you cared enough to do it yourself, before you…” Ianto explained in gasps, “I didn’t want it to hurt too much, so… I took care of it.”

“Hn, you’re tight around just two fingers, Hiei demonstrated by scissoring his fingers causing the blond to hiss. “I think you need to work on it a little more.” Hiei pulled his digits out and sat back on the bed.

“I beg your pardon?” Ianto said, not quite getting the demon’s drift yet.

“Play with yourself while I watch,” Hiei put it simply.

Ianto stared at him, aghast, but then he swallowed and to Hiei’s amusement, he reached down and started to trace his fingertips around his asshole. His face tinted an adorable pink as he pressed his digits in. He let out a ragged breath at the same time Hiei did. Hiei didn’t even realize he’d been holding his breath until he let it out. For a while Hiei just watched as Ianto worked his fingers in and out of his orifice as his other hand worked his half-hard member. He inserted a third finger and then he jolted like an electric shock when he accidentally brushed up against his sweet spot.

“That’s enough,” Hiei told him, quickly reclaiming his place between Ianto’s legs. “You’re so naughty, letting me watch you while you play with yourself.”

“Y-you told me to--” Ianto started to sputter, but then he calmed down and said blandly, “This is your idea of being playful, isn’t it?”

“Mn-hum,” Hiei hummed as he kissed a line from Ianto’s chest to his neck. When he found the blonde’s pulse he sucked on it as he pressed his hips forward, impaling the blond on his rod.

“Ah damn!” Ianto cursed as Hiei forced himself roughly into his passage.

“Too much?” Hiei rasped, pausing for a second.

Ianto moaned, “Not at all. Oh. Keep going just as you are, please.”

“I’ll be,” Hiei muttered. So, Blondie don’t mind if it’s a little rough. That was all well and good for Hiei. He liked giving it a little rough.

Hiei immediately started moving deeper into his partner. In spite of the preparation, Ianto was still so tight around his rod. It was good. Hiei almost felt as if he could come right away. He would try to enjoy this for as long as he could, though-- which wouldn’t be too much longer, considering the increasing pace at which he was driving into the other male.

“Oh yes, Hiei, give it to me!” Ianto growled, fastening his hands to Hiei’s shoulders and pulling him down to him so their bodies pressed tightly together.

“I could do it faster and harder if you turned over on your hands and knees,” Hiei panted.

“No, this is… good.” Ianto suddenly clinched around Hiei. Whether it was an unconscious spasm or a ploy to get Hiei to forget about changing the position, Hiei would never know, because it worked!

“Ahh!” Hiei groaned. He gripped Ianto’s thighs, lifting a spreading them. He had the Ianto’s entire bottom half off the bedding as he drove ever enthusiastically in him. Not an easy feat, considering the death hold the blond had on his shoulders to prevent their bodies from parting even the slightest bit.

Ianto gasped and sobbed softly as Hiei took him. There were tears gathering in his eyes. Hiei briefly wondered if he was being too rough after all. Oh, he could make love slow, gentle and, well, loving like-- and he did often. But doing it like that with Ianto seemed ridiculous. There was no love between them-- couldn’t even rightly call it lust. It was just need. Need for a what and why, was a mystery, but the blonde’s dutiful acquiesce to his desires seemed to inexplicably quell that need.

Hiei, dizzy with the pleasures he was taking in Ianto, looked into his partner’s tear-streaked flushed face and muttered, “Gods, what a beautiful creature.”

In a sudden passion-brought madness, Ianto crushed his lips to Hiei’s. They were swollen and soft on Hiei’s mouth and the demon wanted to keep them there forever. But Ianto managed to move his lips to Hiei’s ear where he whispered, in delirious need, “Spill your burning hot seed inside me, please!”

Not all the cold showers in Siberia could have made Hiei refuse that request. Later as the passion and sweat cooled on their skins, Ianto fell asleep with his head in the crook of Hiei’s shoulder, a hand resting on his chest and a leg tossed lazily over Hiei’s. Normally Hiei would have sneered at the idea of… cuddling with a man he didn’t even care for, but… he had satisfied him amply… and he could feel the blonde’s flesh growing cold again. Hiei pulled the covers up higher and listened to the storm raging outside. It was it its full peek now. It would be over in a matter of hours. Then they could continue on their voyage.
* * *
II. They were Here
“Should we just climb down?” Ianto said staring down into hallow cone of the volcano. “We have a lot of rope, but there’s no telling how deep it runs. It’s a shame we can’t count on it being wide enough all the way down or we could just dive down in the Old Greg.”

“Enough, let’s go already,” Hiei impatiently picked the blond up and jumped into the cone.

Ianto cried out in surprise. They fell seemingly uncontrolled through the dark for several long seconds, before Hiei landed lightly on a stone ledge.

“You’ve got everything we need in that bag of yours, right?” Hiei asked, feeling quite pleased with himself for having frightened the blond so, “Because going back up is gonna be a bit trickier.”

“Oh, y-yeah, I do,” Ianto stuttered, moving the satchel up onto his lap, “Rations, maps, notes, enchanted tracking compass….”

“The light?” Hiei asked. “Might want to activate it now, it’s dark down there.”

“Right,” Ianto rummaged into his bag and pulled out the magic light ball. He blew on it. It lit up, just as it was designed to do, and floated out over the dark pit.

“Hold on,” was all the warning Ianto got before Hiei leapt into the open space again.

Hiei’s way was much faster than climbing down. And after about twenty minutes of falling and landing Ianto wasn’t even that bothered by it enough to scream anymore. Eventually, Hiei landed and put his burden down, declaiming, “This is it; the bottom. See any bangles or blundering adventurers?”

Ianto dug out the compass. He turned in a slow circle, the magic light stayed on his shoulder until he paused and gestured forward. Then the light zipped in that direction to reveal a gapping tunnel, big enough to drive three semi-trucks through side by side.

“Wild guess, but I’m thinking this is the way they went,” Hiei said dryly.

“It’s worrisome,” Ianto said after a few minutes of walking down the vast tunnel, “I mean, I can see the thing rolling down here a little, after it was thrown down, but it couldn’t have gone that far… not on it’s own.”

“What is it that you are suggesting?” Hiei glanced back at him.

Ianto shook his head, “That we should be wary. These are old Dreams we’re walking in, ones that predate mankind.”

“The First Ones, you mean?”

“So you do pay attention.”

Hiei nodded, “You said they weren’t human, so what were they, demons?”

Ianto pondered, “Well, the word demon is derived from the Greek word diamon. In antiquity, the term was pretty much used to describe any being capable of inter-dimensional travel. The First Ones were that for sure. But I’m guessing you are asking if they were from the Makai. They were not.”

“Where did they come from, then?” Hiei asked idly.

“They came down from the stars and the spaces in-between, or so legend says,” Ianto started, “They came to settle on the primal earth, back when there as but one massive super continent.”

“Pangaea, right?” Hiei put in. Hiei recalled the name from the time Kurama was helping Yusuke study for his GED.

“Might be,” Ianto shrugged, “or it might be even older, the land mass before it split up and then got back together again to become the continent known as Pangaea. Or older than that, still. They called it Theem’hdra. It was the primal land where nature experimented with many different life forms-- even humans. Surprised? Well, of course you are. You were taught that humans were new things, an infant race in the grand scheme of things. But there were humans then, as well as a lot of other things. But first, there were the First Ones; colonists from the stars, if you will. They brought magics and sciences to tame a primal world and create one in their images.”

“Hn, I’m not sure if you’re trying to sell these guys as gods or overly ambitious scientists,” Hiei snorted.

“To their own kind, I image they were the latter, but compared to us…” Ianto let it hung, “It frightens you doesn’t it? These things I speak of are much older than anything you know in the Makai. But you are used to the Makai being the older plane. Ah, but there’s nothing to be anxious about. Most of these things were destroyed in a great catechism and then earth pretty much had to start over again from scratch.”

“So they weren’t so powerful after all,” Hiei smirked, “What sort of catechism?”

“The self-wrought kind,” Ianto said shaking his head. “When we call them the First Ones, you see, we are not exactly correct, because as they found out, there were beings there long before the First Ones arrived on Theem’hdra-- before Theem’hdra existed. They were there back when the planet was nothing more than a ball of melting hot rock. I am of course referring to Cthulhu and his brood where they lie imprisoned by the Elder Gods. As powerful as the First Ones were… there were forces they should never have tempered with.”

“Yeah, there’s always someone better,” Hiei put in.

Ianto chuckled in agreement, “It’s a fact of life. It’s unfortunate if that someone has to be, the madness that seeped down from the stars, Cthulhu himself.”

“You hear that?” Hiei said, suddenly uninterested in the subject of things that are not dead which eternal lie.

While they were chatting they had come into a place that seemed more open. Ianto listened. There was a low growling noise that seemed to come from all around. “It sounds like water,” Ianto observed.

“Hmm, check the compass,” Hiei ordered.

Ianto did so, “Still says straight ahead… What’s that?” Ianto spotted a dark blot on the floor. He ran to take a look. There was a crack and a short cry followed by a splash, and then the blond was gone.

“Ianto!” Hiei rushed to the spot. It was a hole where Ianto had fallen through the rock floor and underneath it was a rushing torrent of water. Hiei cursed and did the only thing he could. He dove into the hole. It was dark and the water was ice cold. The shock of it would’ve been enough to incapacitate a man who wasn’t birthed by an ice apparition.

He swam with the current all the while stretching out his senses to find any trace of Ianto’s familiar aura. He found it, it wasn’t too far ahead of him, but it was weak. Hiei swam harder. The water seemed to be growing faster, which could not mean anything good. Then Hiei saw a light glowing in the waters-- it was Ianto’s magic light. It had followed him down into the water. In the sphere of light, Hiei could see the blonde’s limp body tumbling in the currents. The water’s speeds were reaching a dizzying high as Hiei reached out and grasped Ianto to him.

He was just in time, before the waters shot out them out into open space. The light that accompanied them shone out over the room, an open cavern with a rock strung shore along a pond of tranquil water. Hiei took all this in account before they plummeted down into said pond. Hiei struggled his way out of the icy cold pond, with the blond still in his arms. On the shore he tossed down his burden. Ianto coughed up water and groaned.

“You’re alive,” Hiei sighed, almost relieved. “Good thing too, I don’t know CPR.”

“CP-- what?” Ianto coughed idly.

“Never mind,” Hiei said, “What’s our status?”

In his way Hiei was trying to ask Ianto if he was okay, but he blond misunderstood and took out the compass to check it, “Good, great in fact. I think that underground river actually took us in the direction we wanted to go.”

“How do you know that?” Hiei cocked an eyebrow.

“One, I didn’t make that hole, I just fell in it,” Ianto pointed, “Two, there are empty can rations over there.”

Hiei looked, “Hero and Eldin… they were here.”
* * *
III. A Small Gesture of our Love
Hiei left Ianto for a moment, claiming to be scouting ahead in one of the tunnels that branched out from the cavern with the pool. Really, he had swallowed a lot of water on the way down and had needed to relieve himself. He had left the magic light ball with Ianto, believing he would benefit from it more, and found his way by touch. Though tapered that he didn’t need it anyway because the longer Hiei walked down the tunnel the less dark it seemed. It wasn’t simply his eyes adjusting to the dark. The tunnel seemed to be faintly lit, but from no detectable source. It was a point that was lost on Hiei’s attention, because at that moment two familiar forms stepped out of the shadows to obstruct his path.

One was tall, all legs and long flaming red hair, gorgeous, and the very picture of elegance. The other had short hair, black as pitch, and was gorgeous in a whole other way with his broad shoulders, boyish face and devil-may-care smile. It took a few moments for recognition to kick in-- mostly because Hiei never expected to see them there!

“Kurama… Yusuke!” Hiei exclaimed, “W-what are you doing here?”

“Pssh, I need a reason to see the guy I love?” Yusuke returned.

“Indeed, we’d go anywhere; do anything for you, Hiei. Because we love you,” Kurama put in, “the same as you love us.”

Hiei opened his mouth, not even knowing how he would respond. He did love them, but the same? He desired them, that was undeniable; their bodies, their sex. But he also desired their love and affection. He wanted to a part of that cycle of give and take that Kurama and Yusuke seemed to have developed so naturally. It didn’t come so natural to Hiei. So, he stood there with his mouth open.

Yusuke stepped forward and kissed his gapping lips with a giggle. He said excitedly, “I got something for you.” He held up what looked like a bloody piece of meat. In a second, Hiei realized it was a heart, still beating in his hands. It was only then that Hiei noticed the red stain spreading over the breast of Yusuke’s tee-shirt. Yusuke lay the organ down at Hiei’s feet.

“Oh my god, Yusuke!” Hiei gasped, “Kurama, he’s--”

Kurama was also holding his heart in his hand, blood slipping out of his body, and a smile on his face. “A small gesture of our love.”

“You’ll bleed to death without a heart,” Hiei’s words sounded empty in his own ears.

“Then give us yours,” Kurama whispered. His face was pale and he was swaying from blood loss. He fell, his heart bouncing out of his hand to roll next to Yusuke‘s. Hiei felt his stomach drop with him. Yusuke followed moments later. Hiei’s screamed at himself to do something, help them, tear out his own heart and give it to them-- because somewhere in his disjointed dream logic that would save them. His fingers twitched as he tried to lift them to his own breast, to no avail. He couldn’t make his arm rise.

Somewhere he could almost hear a piano weeping and brassy voice singing, “Tell me where you want to go. Tell me what you long to be. How you’re longing for my touch, if only in my dreams. I’ll sing the love songs you want sung, touch the stars you want to reach. I will see the job get done….”

Yusuke weakly lifted an arm to put around Kurama’s shoulder, where they lay on the cold stone floor together. He muttered, “Love ya, ’Rama.” Kurama answered by muzzling his chin. The gesture sent a dart of anguish through Hiei’s chest. Yusuke smiled at Hiei, “You too.”

Hiei felt dizzy and the song was echoing in his head, “And I know you anywhere, there ain’t no pain, there ain’t no tears! And if I had my way from the moment… I give… in….”

“No…” Hiei fell to his knees, “I can’t do it!” The world dissolved into black.
* * *
IV. I was Just So Cold
Ianto told Hiei he would wait until he got back, but that was a long time ago. Ianto started to worry and decided to go check on him. We walked down the tunnel, he called, “Hiei are you alright back there?”

“You harlot,” a voice suddenly sounded behind Ianto. It wasn’t Hiei’s.

“Yusuke?” Ianto gasped. It was Yusuke, just as he was the day he‘d left Dreams, except he didn’t look happy.

Yusuke glowered, “So now you just go around fucking any demon that shows you a stiff prick, is that right? I thought you were in love with me, but now here I find you fucking my boyfriend.”

“I-- I-- how did you --?” Ianto stammered.

“How did I know you were fucking Hiei or how did I know you had that pathetic crush on me?” Yusuke sneered, “How could I not know you liked me? You killed Count Flint over me.”

“I didn’t kill Flint, the Gneiss blossoms did.” Ianto corrected.

“You know stuff,” Yusuke disregarded him, “You could have stopped it if you wanted. But you didn’t. You wanted to see him die.”

“After what he did to you… maybe! I couldn’t forgive it!” The words came as if a will of their own. Ianto couldn’t stop them. “I love you.”
“You love me yet you take my lover away from me,” Yusuke said as if he was going to be sick.

“No, I didn’t take him,” Ianto protested, “I only gave him my body!”

“I told you he couldn’t be trusted,” Ianto was started by the second arrival. It was Kurama. “If he really cared for you he would have refused Hiei.”

“I do,” Ianto shook his head desperately, “but… how strong do you think I can be when he’s so close… so warm. I would have done it with you two, if you were here… if you would have had me,” Ianto’s chest seemed to tighten, making it hard to breathe. He could sear he could see his own breath coming out in icy puffs.

Kurama shook his head, “You whore.”

Ianto hugged his arms around his body, shivers racking his frame, “I was so…he was so warm and I…”

“How could you?” Yusuke said sadly.

Ianto sobbed as his vision burred and failed, “I was just so cold…!”
* * *
V. It Just became Our Problem
Hiei regained consciousness slowly. As he did so he noticed two things. One, he was not alone in the soft bed that he did not remember crawling into. Ianto was curled up at his side-- and they were both naked. The second thing that Hiei noticed was that he and Ianto were not alone in the room. Slumped in the corner was a gangly creature that seemed almost man-like, but its features were vaguely canine.

“Who are you,” Hiei spoke softy so as not to rouse his sleeping companion.

“I am ghoul,” it grunted.

“Fine, ghoul, what do you want from us?” Hiei pressed on.

The ghoul let out a barking sound that may have been a laugh. “Funny man, ghoul gatherers find you in the forest of Doom-Shrooms. Doom-Shrooms are fun in small doses mixed with wine, but inhaling spores straight-- gives bad dreams! Hard to wake up. You lucky gatherers found you.”

Hiei bulked, “Wait. Then that stuff that happened in there--”

“Bad dreams, like he said,” a small voice came from beneath the covers. Ianto was wake.

The ghoul left them then, to retrieve their clothing which was being cleaned of Doom-Shroom spores. Lying together naked in the bed, Hiei couldn’t help but to notice the blonde’s apprehensiveness. At last he sighed and said coarsely, “You know, at the moment I lack the ability to read your mind. So way don’t you save us both some irritation and tell he what your problem is… and don’t even think of telling me you haven’t one!”

Ianto opened and closed his mouth a few times before he frowned and said, “I was thinking about you and me, and what we’ve been doing together, physically.”

“You mean fucking?” Hiei said blandly.

Ianto bristled at the course word, “Yes.”

“What about it?”

“Should we really be doing it--?”

“Geez, I thought we already went through this,” Hiei huffed impatiently.

“I know, but… I feel kind like a home wreaker, you know” Ianto hid his face in his hands. “I mean, I’m not trying to take you away from them or anything, but how would they feel about, if they knew?”

“I think they‘d tell me to move over and let them have a shot at you,” Hiei told him point blank.

“I am serious!” Ianto thumped Hiei on the chest.

“So am I,” Hiei caught his hand, “you’ve got potential, Blondie. Frankly, I’m surprised Yusuke never noticed-- no scratch that. This is Yusuke we’re talking about.”

That got a laugh out of the blond. “All he ever thought about was you,” Ianto sighed, “You know, I think that might have been what I loved the most about Yusuke; how much he loved you. I guess that’s weird, right? I grew fond of Kurama too, seeing them together-- even if I didn’t always get along with Kurama. And now with you…” Ianto looked away.

Hiei caught his chin, on impulse and kissed him. He said, “I like them together, too.”

Ianto smiled and touched Hiei‘s chest, “You know what would make me happy?”

“Hm?” Hiei hummed.

“If they were here with us right now,” Ianto said wistfully.

It wasn’t what Hiei thought he would say… but he liked it. “Oh yes, I’d say you’ve got potential,” Hiei snorted in good humor.

“You know you haven’t talked about them much since coming here,” Ianto observed innocently.

“Not much to say,” Hiei said flatly, “They’re… happy.”

“Hm?” Ianto gave Hiei look that was both sad and uneasy.

Hiei grunted as way of ending the uncomfortable conversation. That was fine, because the ghoul had returned with their cleaned clothes. After they dressed checked that all their equipment was in order, the ghoul offered them a map of the caverns around Sarkomand.

“We would offer you escort to above land, but ghouls are short on hands now,” the explained, “We need all extra hands for guarding.”

“Guarding?” Ianto frowned.

“Is that odd?” Hiei asked him.

“As far as I knew the ghouls had nothing of value,” Ianto told him.

“Ghouls value family, value pack,” the ghoul growled, “We protect from those who would take!”

“Take? Has somebody been taking ghouls?” Ianto asked aghast.

“Blondie,” Hiei warned, “We’ve already got a mission, remember. Whatever’s going on is here is not our problem.”

Ianto opened his mouth to speak, but the ghoul spoke first, “Ghouls don’t need your help. Ghouls already have friends from upper world helping. We found them floundering the Doom-Shoom forest just as we did you. They were looking for a shiny metal band; it sounded like the one chief’s daughter found and wears around her wrist….”

“Oh don’t tell me,” Hiei groaned. “They call themselves Hero of Dreams and Eldin the Wanderer.”

“Yes,” the ghoul grinned, “They go to defeat the enemy of the ghoul and save stolen ghouls, and then we let them have shiny metal band.” Then he frowned, “They take long time though….”

Hiei sneered to Ianto, “Damn. it just became our problem. I hope you’re happy.”

“Not as much as you would think,” Ianto muttered. Then to the ghoul, “Since we’re apparently going to be facing your foes, do you think you can tell us something about them?”

The ghoul thought on it for a moment and then began, “They came from the north. They were few then-- fled King Carter’s forces. They… make themselves out of other things… they breed with things that should not breed to make their numbers. They are blasphemies that and call themselves lords… Ghouls can not even think of what they do to ours when they take them.”

“You have any idea what he’s babbling about?” Hiei glanced at Ianto.

“If I’m correct in his references, he’s talking about the Lords of Luz,” Ianto frowned, “They lived in the uppermost level of the Dream’s underworld, near Inquanok. The highest of their echelon actually ruled the human city under disguise-- that was until a certain pair of adventurer found out about them and King Carter took them out. As for the breeding, they would take the female tick-men who live on dholes and inseminate them with the seed from a man. That poor offspring will be a slave of the lords, one of their duties being coupling with a giant worm called an url. The product of that is a Lord of Luz. Needless to say, these are not pretty creatures.”

“Do they bleed?” Hiei asked drolly as he fastened his sword onto his belt and checked its fit in the sheath.

“I think so,” Ianto said carefully.

“That’s all I need to know, then,” Hiei smirked, “Get your bag Ianto. We’re heading out.”
* * *
TBC…
A/N: Sorry it’s taken so long to post this chapter, but there were a lot of things I needed to get just right. Ya know, how picky I am about that sort of thing. Hoped you all liked. Leave some reviews, if you got the time. I like reading them. See ya next time.