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Dark and Light Chapter 13

The Bath of Bonding

Zachorias woke up early the next morning, thanks to a cold drop of water that fell down from the cave's ceiling on his muzzle. He opened his eyes and was still half asleep when he sat up, his body was aching from the last day's fighting and storm. Annoyed, he cursed in his mind at the morning for appearing so fast even though he knew that it didn't help.

Zachorias wasn't a morning person and his right eye hadn't fully awakened yet. He yawned and looked outside the cave, the sun was already up and the rain had stopped during the night. The ground was still wet from the rain but the sun was warming the ground so it would be dry in a couple of hours. Zachorias scratched behind his left ear and yawned again, he opened his right eye slightly, allowing him to get adjusted to the light without hurting his eyes.

Lauren was still asleep and her breathing was slow and calm. He looked at the vixen as she breathed slowly, completely unaware of her surroundings. Zachorias looked at the peaceful face that Lauren had and wondered what she was dreaming, every now and then she would let out a sigh and smile.

How long Zachorias sat and just watched Lauren sleep he didn't know, but the ground outside the cave seemed to be almost completely dry when he woke up from his little trance. He decided to let her sleep and would do some meditating instead, it had been some time from his last time and it could come handy.

He crossed his legs and placed his paws together. Slowly he began to clean his mind of all thoughts and a blue ring appeared around him, five dots formed in the blue ring and began to pulse small waves of energy around him. As Zachorias continued to meditate, from each blue dot rose up a light blue tower, pulsating with power. Zachorias opened his eyes, but his eyes weren't purple as they used to be. They were glowing blue and his iris' were white.

This is what most mages do in order to recharge their mana fast and become stronger for a limited time. They meditate and form a special barrier around themselves and the mortal world, allowing them to travel into the dimension where mana is all the time created by one of the elder gods. The dimension doesn't have any name but magicians have always called it the ethereal dimension and studying mana and it's capabilities there.

Their bodies work like beacons for the mana causing small amounts of mana gather at their bodies that they can use as they see fit. Though the mana that the mages gather from the ethereal dimension is different kind of mana than what mages usually generate, the spell caster could still use it in order to boost his or her spells for a day.

"Mmmh..." Lauren mumbled, she opened her eyes and they were immediately locked on Zachorias who was still deep in his meditations. Not paying any special attention to Zachorias, Lauren stretched herself on the cold cave floor. She smiled and rolled on her back, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember what she had dreamed about. She enjoyed going over her dreams, it gave her a satisfaction to know what went on in her head.

The circle around Zachorias began to shrink and didn't pulse energy anymore. His eyes began to change into his normal, purple eyes again. He breathed deep for a couple of seconds, letting the new mana time to settle in.

"Good morning Zach." Lauren said while she sat up and looked at Zachorias. His brown fur was dirty and his hair was roughed up, he must have slept badly during the night. Zachorias opened his eyes and tried to smile but instead yawned as a reply. Lauren giggled while Zachorias tried to cover up his muzzle with his paw.

"That' s one way to say good morning too I guess." Lauren said while she continued to giggle and Zachorias chuckled. He was still tired, even though it was almost noon.

"What can I say? I'm just not a morning person. Are you ready to go? We should try and find the road again, otherwise one of us needs to climb on this rock and scout the surroundings." Zachorias said while he stood up and cleaned his robes of the dirt.

"I haven't got any problems climbing. You just wait here. "Lauren said while she stood up too and walked outside. She first looked for a suitable place to start climbing, placing her paw on different places along the cliff, trying to find a good place to start with.

Then she jumped up on a small rock that was sticking out from the cliff, Zachorias noticed that she was very agile and could jump well. Lauren continued to climb and Zachorias admired her climbing skills. She stopped for a second and looked around herself, trying to see any familiar places in the forest but her vision was blocked by the tall trees and it was impossible to see through the forest. She sighed and continued to climb the cliff.

Once her head reached above the tree tops and she could feel the warm sun in her face again she stopped and looked around. She was pleased to know that her climbing hadn't been in vain, she could see a small town in the forest, approximately six or seven kilometres north-east from them.

"Do you see anything?" Zachorias yelled, he had been busy binding his sword on his back with the broken sheets of cloth. Once he was done he could see Lauren point her paw towards north-east and yell "Eight kilometres! A town!". Then Lauren began her descend while Zachorias stood on the ground and waited for her. She placed her paw on a small rock right under her paw.

Without warning, the rock under her under and began to fall down, luckily she managed to get a hold on another rock and stop her fall. Without thinking Zachorias grabbed a hold on a rock and began to climb in order to help Lauren. But before he had even taken his first step, Lauren was standing on a large boulder sticking out from the cliff's wall. She had used her magic and moved the boulder softly downwards. Zachorias watched with an open muzzle how she stood on the boulder and landed it on the ground with a loud noise.

Lauren jumped on the ground and noticed that Zachorias was staring at her. She gave him an questioning look and wondered why he was so shocked. As Zachorias held to a rock in the cliff his sleeves fell down and revealed his bandaged wrists again, Lauren's eyes were immediately locked on them and the questions about his bandages popped in her mind again.

Zachorias didn't even notice that was staring at his bandages, he was too busy trying to think how Lauren had moved the boulder. Suddenly he remembered.
"Oh right! She can use earth magic too." He closed his muzzle and pointed at the forest, trying his best to not look like an idiot. "Eight kilometres that way, right? Ha ha haa...Well let's get going then." He said with a high pinched tone. Lauren smiled, it was obvious that he had just looked more like an idiot than he would have if he would have just said that he had forgotten about her skills.

Zachorias and Lauren began to walk through the woods, talking the whole time, Lauren tried to get him to talk about the bandages around his wrists but he always changed the subject, finally she gave up and they began to talk about all kinds of things, their mage schooling, the differences in their academies, the cost of the books that they were required to buy.

Zachorias even talked about what his parents had done for their living, leaving out the part of them being dead. They didn't lose much time wandering around thanks to the good sense of direction that they both had they arrived at the town after only a couple of hours walking.

"This is the town you saw? Seems like a nice place." Zachorias said while they stood at the outskirts of the town. The town was called Bergan, a small town that got most of it's income from the lumber they sold and most of the townspeople were woodworkers.

When Zachorias and Lauren walked into the town, they both noticed that all the buildings were constructed from fine, strong wood and all had beautiful carvings in them, there were furs walking everywhere and they could even hear children's laughter, a rare sound since children were either supposed to help at the fields or workshops or be sent to schools.

Although the town seemed to be interesting, Lauren couldn't stop thinking about the bandages around Zachorias' wrists and the reaction of her questions, the question was nagging in her head and teasing her to ask it. She tried to think of a way to make him trust her so he would more likely answer her question. They walked past the first buildings and Lauren began to check the surrounding buildings.

"I need to get him to relax if I ever want to learn anything about those bandages. Let's see...A tavern. I don't think so, Zach doesn't seem like the type of person that enjoys drinking. A blacksmith, like he would need any weapons or armour. The inn? No, it's too early to check in for a room." Lauren thought for herself, she checked every now and then if Zachorias was looking at any special place or store.

When they were in the middle of the town a building caught Lauren's attention. The building wasn't anything special, open doors, beautiful carved wooden walls and roof like the rest of the city. But the thing that caught her attention was the three meter tall wall surrounding the building's yard.

"Bathhouse" Lauren read from the sign on the roof of the building, apparently the building was the front of the bathing area. Sunnely a smile spread across her muzzle, she had made up a plan how she could learn what Zachorias was hiding under his bandages. Without warning she grabbed Zachorias' right arm and stopped him.

"What the- What's the matter Lauren?" Zachorias asked confused, Lauren was smiling and pulled in his arm while jumping for herself.

"Come on, let's go and take a bath." She said to Zachorias while she began to pull Zachorias towards the bathhouse. Zachorias didn't know what was happening but he didn't put up a fight either.

"Okay! We'll take a bath. Just don't pull so hard." Zachorias said confused, still not understanding what was happening. Suddenly he felt his arm being held by her both paws while they walked inside the bathhouse.

A little way inside the building there was a small counter and behind it stood a young female cheetah that greeted them. Her golden hair was almost as long as Lauren's but her hair was much cleaner. Somehow she didn't really fit in with the rest of the room, since she was beautiful and was very clean while the room was gave a cold feeling, there weren't any beautiful things in the room, only two small benches near the walls a two windows.

"Welcome! I see that we have the pleasure of offering our services to a beautiful young blue vixen and a strong, handsome canine today. What kind of bath would you like to reserve?" The cheetah said cheerfully while she first looked at Lauren and then at Zachorias.

"Um, two sm-"
"One bath please, a small private one." Lauren interrupted before Zachorias was finished, he stopped breathing for a second while he tried to understand what Lauren had just said.

"Thank you very much, a small private bath will be prepared for You. Here You have Your towels, the male's changing room is to Your left and the female's is to Your right. Please have a pleasant time." The cheetah said while she placed two towels on the table for them to use.

"Thank you!" Lauren cheerfully while she grabbed the towel that was closest her and walked inside the female's changing room, leaving Zachorias with an open muzzle at the counter. He still hadn't completely realized what just had happened, but he didn't have much choice but to deal with it, otherwise Lauren would be forced to pay for the whole bath session. He grabbed the other towel and entered the male's changing room.

He was shocked when he entered the changing room, the changing room was better looking than the entrance room! This only build up his confusion, he sighed and began to take off his clothes. He wrapped the towel around his waist, putting his clothes and sword in one of the closets there and placed his paw against the small piece of paper that had been placed on the closet door, the paper glowed a few seconds, registering his paw as the only key that could open the door.

When he left the changing room he was escorted by a beautiful female squirrel to the bathing room he and Lauren had reserved. The squirrel closed the door and sealed it with a similar scroll that was used on the changing room's closet doors. Zachorias stood by the bath wondering why he was there. He sighed again and stepped into the bath, the water was warm enough to create steam but not hot enough to burn the customer's fur.

He was surprised by how big the bath was, even though it was three meters wide and three meters long it was still considered small when compared to the other options. Zachorias could feel how his muscles began to relax as his body was welcomed by the steaming water. The bandages on his wrists were immediately soaked when they touched the water. He felt drowsy since it had been a long time since he felt this kind of relaxation.

Just when he was about to dose off, he heard the door on the other side of the room open. His ears perked up and he was fully awake, Lauren was standing in the doorway while another worker was holding the door open for her. Her towel was wrapped around her from her chest allmost past her knees and her hair down past her shoulders. She was smiling when she entered the bath on the opposite side of Zachorias.

"Mmmm...This feels nice, doesn't it Zach?" Lauren commented while she sat down in the bath and felt the warm water embrace her. Zachorias couldn't help but feel nervous when Lauren sat down, only a towel as her clothing, her beautiful blue fur soaked in water and her blue hair that continued all the way past her shoulders floating in the water. It was the exact opposite of relaxing to him.

"Lauren. Why did you bring me here?" Zachorias said in a nervous tone, he sat cross legged and looked at Lauren while she continued to smile deviously. She opened her eyes and giggled.

"That's a strange question. I brought you here to have a bath and you really needed one. Relax. Just let the water take away all your stress." Lauren said while she sunk a little bit deeper into the water. Zachorias watched as Lauren's towel disappeared below the water, next her shoulders and finally only her neck was above the water. She let out a long sigh from her muzzle, at the same time her paw came in contact with Zachorias' who quickly moved his as if he had burned his paw.
Zachorias could feel his own heartbeat, it had begun to go faster when Lauren had sat down in the water and it only got faster when Lauren sunk deeper in the water.

"Damn, how long is this going to last?" Zachorias thought for himself while he tried to clear his mind by concentrating his mind towards the wall behind Lauren, but it didn't help. He began to breathe heavier than usually and his paws were shaking, just like when a soldier goes into war and feels that he's about to die there. Lauren opened her eyes and looked at the miserable looking hybrid.

"Zach? Are you all right?" Lauren said while she quickly rose up and moved over to Zachorias who was so wrapped up in his mind that he didn't notice Lauren before she leaned towards him and put her paw on his forehead to feel if he was sick. If she would have looked closer at him she would have noticed that he was blushing harder than ever before.

"You're not sick, but you're so tense. I know! I'll massage you, why don't you talk about what's on your mind?" Lauren said while she grasped Zachorias' shoulder and turned him so he had the wall in front of his face. Lauren grabbed a hold on his shoulders and began to massage them but the treatment wasn't working on Zachorias, it was only building up his stress. Since he hadn't been in this kind of situation with anyone before he was reaching his breaking point.

Sometimes she would press her body against his back and during those times Zachorias had to gather all of his willpower in order not to snap. He didn't like this kind of touching between two furs who didn't properly know eachother. It went against what his parents had taught him.

Zachorias swore in his mind that he could hear his own heartbeats and he could see her in his mind pulling him into the bathhouse, ordering a small and private bath where there wasn't much room to move in, her entering the same bath wearing but a towel, her slow, tender movements when she descended into the bath. Finally when Lauren gently bit his ear he snapped.

"I can't take this anymore! I give up! I'll do anything if you will let me out!"
Zachorias yelled while he rose up from the bath, holding his ears with his paws and his eyes closed. Lauren, who had fallen backwards from the outburst that Zachorias unleashed, rose up from the water while holding her towel in place with only one paw.

"Very well. Answer my question: Why do you wear those bandages? What are you hiding beneath them?" Lauren said in a normal, calm tone, her plan was working and she was only a few steps away from knowing the truth but Zachorias froze on that spot, his mind was shattered but still he doubted his ears.

"What?! I'm not going to answer that!" He yelled, he couldn't believe that she had done all this just to learn what he was hiding under the bandages.

"Fine! Then why aren't you answering my question? Tell me!" Lauren yelled furiously, she wanted to know the truth and just when she was about to learn why, he had recovered. Zachorias turned his head around and yelled a loud "NO!" in her face, they could both feel the magical powers they were unleashing with their arguing flow through and around the bath, creatingf waves in the water.

"Answer me! Why are you wearing those bandages! Or do you have some kind of scar there that you have pride in?" Lauren screamed for one last time, and as fate would have it, she wouldn't need to wait nor ask anymore times because now Zachorias had grown tired of the same question and he realized that the only way to get her to shut up would be to tell her. She didn't know what she had said but she soon would realize how far away from the truth she had been.

"It's because I am a necromancer!" Zachorias yelled in Lauren's face and ripped apart his bandages, showing the dark runes on his wrists. Lauren gasped for air and placed her paw infront of her muzzle in shock, she hadn't been expecting this as the answer.

"From the looks of your face I'd say that you weren't really expecting that. It's true, I used to practice the dark arts! I was considered a child genius, as a mere student I had mastered several types of spells that older students were only practicing! I was offered a place in the dark council thanks to my skills, but when my parent's were killed my eyes were opened. I changed my schooling and became a white mage instead. Now you know and...and I hope you have fun on your journey thinking about it. I'm leaving."

Lauren now understood why he hadn't told her, no sane person would have told another living soul either. She felt bad about forcing him to answer her question but she had wanted to know. How could she have known that it would turn out like this. She stood up and grabbed a hold on Zachorias' arm when he had risen up and was leaving the bath.

"No! Don't go! Please. Zach I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you. I beg you, please don't go." Lauren said while Zachorias halted. He didn't want to argue with her, it wouldn't be difficult to just walk away and turn a blind eye to what he had experienced these past days but then he would forget about Lauren too. He sighed and turned slowly around, he wasn't ready to do that.

"Everyone needs a second chance, right?" Zachorias thought for himself.

"Very well. But why did you have to ask? It should have been obvious that I didn't want to talk about it when I kept on evading your question." Zachorias said while he sat down and breathed deeply a couple of times. Lauren, first shocked, but then a weak smile spread across her muzzle, sat down too and as a sign of trust, only two meters away from Zachorias as a sign of trust.

"I thought that you didn't trust me." Lauren said, her tail wrapped itself slowly around her left leg as she tried to explain her actions. Zachorias stared at her intensively making her feel even worse about herself.

"Lauren. How could I trust you? We only met less than a day ago. My trust is gained, not given without work." Zachorias said firmly while Lauren lowered her head in shame.

"I'm sorry. Can you forgive me? I really wish to know you better and earn your trust." Lauren said with a sad voiced, Zachorias could tell that she was on the brink of crying. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Very well. I forgive you. And remember, next time you want to know something about me, you wait until I trust to tell you. Now let's go." Zachorias said while he offered his paw to Lauren, who first looked at him with sad, tearful eyes but she quickly wiped them off and grabbed Zachorias' paw.

"That place was really expensive!" Zachorias said while he and Lauren stepped out from the bath house. It was starting to get dark and the streets were empty. No more shops were open. Zachorias looked in his coin purse and let out a small whimper, Lauren forced out a smile while she looked in his purse.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it would cost that much. Aww...Look. All the stores are closed. What should we do now?" Lauren said while she looked from one shop to another, trying to find anyone that was open.

"How about we go and get a place to sleep for the night?" Zachorias said with a tired tone. The day had been long and the bath had been so relaxing that he could barely keep his eyes open. They walked back towards the front gates of the town and entered the inn. Zachorias' mind was filled by thoughts of a nice bed, not pre warmed of course since they couldn't afford that kind of luxury.

"Good evening! How may I help You?" Zachorias heard someone say and he quickly replied before Lauren would try another of her tricks.

"Two small rooms please." And the feline who was working there began to write something down on a piece of paper. Lauren opened her muzzle, but realized that it was best to just stat quiet. They both gave the feline a silver coin and in exchange they got their keys for their rooms.

"Here we are. These two rooms were empty so you can sleep here. Thank You and goodnight." A young canine servant said while he lead Zachorias and Lauren to their rooms. He bowed and walked back downstairs incase his owner would have any more work to him. Zachorias wished Lauren goodnight and she blushed a little and wished him the same.

Zachorias looked at the room he had rented and yawned. There was only one source of light, a candle that had been placed on the table next to the bed. He placed his sword against the wall and locked the door. He yawned again and loosened the belts around his waist, then he took of his robe and shirt and placed them on a chair next to the table with the candle.

"Good night." He said to himself while he blew out the candle and the whole room became dark, completely dark except for a small light that came from Zachorias' chest fur. The amulet he wore. He held it in his paw and looked at it. If he concentrated his eyes he could see the faces of his parents, they smiled at him, obviously happy that he had finally talked about his problems with someone. His mind began to go numb when he slowly fell deeper and deeper asleep. He felt happiness, to know that he could talk with someone and not get marked as a demon in return.

End of Chapter 13
Dark and Light...

Description
Dark and Light Chapter 13

The Bath of Bonding

Zachorias woke up early the next morning, thanks to a cold drop of water that fell down from the cave's ceiling on his muzzle. He opened his eyes and was still half asleep when he sat up, his body was aching from the last day's fighting and storm. Annoyed, he cursed in his mind at the morning for appearing so fast even though he knew that it didn't help.

Zachorias wasn't a morning person and his right eye hadn't fully awakened yet. He yawned and looked outside the cave, the sun was already up and the rain had stopped during the night. The ground was still wet from the rain but the sun was warming the ground so it would be dry in a couple of hours. Zachorias scratched behind his left ear and yawned again, he opened his right eye slightly, allowing him to get adjusted to the light without hurting his eyes.

Lauren was still asleep and her breathing was slow and calm. He looked at the vixen as she breathed slowly, completely unaware of her surroundings. Zachorias looked at the peaceful face that Lauren had and wondered what she was dreaming, every now and then she would let out a sigh and smile.

How long Zachorias sat and just watched Lauren sleep he didn't know, but the ground outside the cave seemed to be almost completely dry when he woke up from his little trance. He decided to let her sleep and would do some meditating instead, it had been some time from his last time and it could come handy.

He crossed his legs and placed his paws together. Slowly he began to clean his mind of all thoughts and a blue ring appeared around him, five dots formed in the blue ring and began to pulse small waves of energy around him. As Zachorias continued to meditate, from each blue dot rose up a light blue tower, pulsating with power. Zachorias opened his eyes, but his eyes weren't purple as they used to be. They were glowing blue and his iris' were white.

This is what most mages do in order to recharge their mana fast and become stronger for a limited time. They meditate and form a special barrier around themselves and the mortal world, allowing them to travel into the dimension where mana is all the time created by one of the elder gods. The dimension doesn't have any name but magicians have always called it the ethereal dimension and studying mana and it's capabilities there.

Their bodies work like beacons for the mana causing small amounts of mana gather at their bodies that they can use as they see fit. Though the mana that the mages gather from the ethereal dimension is different kind of mana than what mages usually generate, the spell caster could still use it in order to boost his or her spells for a day.

"Mmmh..." Lauren mumbled, she opened her eyes and they were immediately locked on Zachorias who was still deep in his meditations. Not paying any special attention to Zachorias, Lauren stretched herself on the cold cave floor. She smiled and rolled on her back, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember what she had dreamed about. She enjoyed going over her dreams, it gave her a satisfaction to know what went on in her head.

The circle around Zachorias began to shrink and didn't pulse energy anymore. His eyes began to change into his normal, purple eyes again. He breathed deep for a couple of seconds, letting the new mana time to settle in.

"Good morning Zach." Lauren said while she sat up and looked at Zachorias. His brown fur was dirty and his hair was roughed up, he must have slept badly during the night. Zachorias opened his eyes and tried to smile but instead yawned as a reply. Lauren giggled while Zachorias tried to cover up his muzzle with his paw.

"That' s one way to say good morning too I guess." Lauren said while she continued to giggle and Zachorias chuckled. He was still tired, even though it was almost noon.

"What can I say? I'm just not a morning person. Are you ready to go? We should try and find the road again, otherwise one of us needs to climb on this rock and scout the surroundings." Zachorias said while he stood up and cleaned his robes of the dirt.

"I haven't got any problems climbing. You just wait here. "Lauren said while she stood up too and walked outside. She first looked for a suitable place to start climbing, placing her paw on different places along the cliff, trying to find a good place to start with.

Then she jumped up on a small rock that was sticking out from the cliff, Zachorias noticed that she was very agile and could jump well. Lauren continued to climb and Zachorias admired her climbing skills. She stopped for a second and looked around herself, trying to see any familiar places in the forest but her vision was blocked by the tall trees and it was impossible to see through the forest. She sighed and continued to climb the cliff.

Once her head reached above the tree tops and she could feel the warm sun in her face again she stopped and looked around. She was pleased to know that her climbing hadn't been in vain, she could see a small town in the forest, approximately six or seven kilometres north-east from them.

"Do you see anything?" Zachorias yelled, he had been busy binding his sword on his back with the broken sheets of cloth. Once he was done he could see Lauren point her paw towards north-east and yell "Eight kilometres! A town!". Then Lauren began her descend while Zachorias stood on the ground and waited for her. She placed her paw on a small rock right under her paw.

Without warning, the rock under her under and began to fall down, luckily she managed to get a hold on another rock and stop her fall. Without thinking Zachorias grabbed a hold on a rock and began to climb in order to help Lauren. But before he had even taken his first step, Lauren was standing on a large boulder sticking out from the cliff's wall. She had used her magic and moved the boulder softly downwards. Zachorias watched with an open muzzle how she stood on the boulder and landed it on the ground with a loud noise.

Lauren jumped on the ground and noticed that Zachorias was staring at her. She gave him an questioning look and wondered why he was so shocked. As Zachorias held to a rock in the cliff his sleeves fell down and revealed his bandaged wrists again, Lauren's eyes were immediately locked on them and the questions about his bandages popped in her mind again.

Zachorias didn't even notice that was staring at his bandages, he was too busy trying to think how Lauren had moved the boulder. Suddenly he remembered.
"Oh right! She can use earth magic too." He closed his muzzle and pointed at the forest, trying his best to not look like an idiot. "Eight kilometres that way, right? Ha ha haa...Well let's get going then." He said with a high pinched tone. Lauren smiled, it was obvious that he had just looked more like an idiot than he would have if he would have just said that he had forgotten about her skills.

Zachorias and Lauren began to walk through the woods, talking the whole time, Lauren tried to get him to talk about the bandages around his wrists but he always changed the subject, finally she gave up and they began to talk about all kinds of things, their mage schooling, the differences in their academies, the cost of the books that they were required to buy.

Zachorias even talked about what his parents had done for their living, leaving out the part of them being dead. They didn't lose much time wandering around thanks to the good sense of direction that they both had they arrived at the town after only a couple of hours walking.

"This is the town you saw? Seems like a nice place." Zachorias said while they stood at the outskirts of the town. The town was called Bergan, a small town that got most of it's income from the lumber they sold and most of the townspeople were woodworkers.

When Zachorias and Lauren walked into the town, they both noticed that all the buildings were constructed from fine, strong wood and all had beautiful carvings in them, there were furs walking everywhere and they could even hear children's laughter, a rare sound since children were either supposed to help at the fields or workshops or be sent to schools.

Although the town seemed to be interesting, Lauren couldn't stop thinking about the bandages around Zachorias' wrists and the reaction of her questions, the question was nagging in her head and teasing her to ask it. She tried to think of a way to make him trust her so he would more likely answer her question. They walked past the first buildings and Lauren began to check the surrounding buildings.

"I need to get him to relax if I ever want to learn anything about those bandages. Let's see...A tavern. I don't think so, Zach doesn't seem like the type of person that enjoys drinking. A blacksmith, like he would need any weapons or armour. The inn? No, it's too early to check in for a room." Lauren thought for herself, she checked every now and then if Zachorias was looking at any special place or store.

When they were in the middle of the town a building caught Lauren's attention. The building wasn't anything special, open doors, beautiful carved wooden walls and roof like the rest of the city. But the thing that caught her attention was the three meter tall wall surrounding the building's yard.

"Bathhouse" Lauren read from the sign on the roof of the building, apparently the building was the front of the bathing area. Sunnely a smile spread across her muzzle, she had made up a plan how she could learn what Zachorias was hiding under his bandages. Without warning she grabbed Zachorias' right arm and stopped him.

"What the- What's the matter Lauren?" Zachorias asked confused, Lauren was smiling and pulled in his arm while jumping for herself.

"Come on, let's go and take a bath." She said to Zachorias while she began to pull Zachorias towards the bathhouse. Zachorias didn't know what was happening but he didn't put up a fight either.

"Okay! We'll take a bath. Just don't pull so hard." Zachorias said confused, still not understanding what was happening. Suddenly he felt his arm being held by her both paws while they walked inside the bathhouse.

A little way inside the building there was a small counter and behind it stood a young female cheetah that greeted them. Her golden hair was almost as long as Lauren's but her hair was much cleaner. Somehow she didn't really fit in with the rest of the room, since she was beautiful and was very clean while the room was gave a cold feeling, there weren't any beautiful things in the room, only two small benches near the walls a two windows.

"Welcome! I see that we have the pleasure of offering our services to a beautiful young blue vixen and a strong, handsome canine today. What kind of bath would you like to reserve?" The cheetah said cheerfully while she first looked at Lauren and then at Zachorias.

"Um, two sm-"
"One bath please, a small private one." Lauren interrupted before Zachorias was finished, he stopped breathing for a second while he tried to understand what Lauren had just said.

"Thank you very much, a small private bath will be prepared for You. Here You have Your towels, the male's changing room is to Your left and the female's is to Your right. Please have a pleasant time." The cheetah said while she placed two towels on the table for them to use.

"Thank you!" Lauren cheerfully while she grabbed the towel that was closest her and walked inside the female's changing room, leaving Zachorias with an open muzzle at the counter. He still hadn't completely realized what just had happened, but he didn't have much choice but to deal with it, otherwise Lauren would be forced to pay for the whole bath session. He grabbed the other towel and entered the male's changing room.

He was shocked when he entered the changing room, the changing room was better looking than the entrance room! This only build up his confusion, he sighed and began to take off his clothes. He wrapped the towel around his waist, putting his clothes and sword in one of the closets there and placed his paw against the small piece of paper that had been placed on the closet door, the paper glowed a few seconds, registering his paw as the only key that could open the door.

When he left the changing room he was escorted by a beautiful female squirrel to the bathing room he and Lauren had reserved. The squirrel closed the door and sealed it with a similar scroll that was used on the changing room's closet doors. Zachorias stood by the bath wondering why he was there. He sighed again and stepped into the bath, the water was warm enough to create steam but not hot enough to burn the customer's fur.

He was surprised by how big the bath was, even though it was three meters wide and three meters long it was still considered small when compared to the other options. Zachorias could feel how his muscles began to relax as his body was welcomed by the steaming water. The bandages on his wrists were immediately soaked when they touched the water. He felt drowsy since it had been a long time since he felt this kind of relaxation.

Just when he was about to dose off, he heard the door on the other side of the room open. His ears perked up and he was fully awake, Lauren was standing in the doorway while another worker was holding the door open for her. Her towel was wrapped around her from her chest allmost past her knees and her hair down past her shoulders. She was smiling when she entered the bath on the opposite side of Zachorias.

"Mmmm...This feels nice, doesn't it Zach?" Lauren commented while she sat down in the bath and felt the warm water embrace her. Zachorias couldn't help but feel nervous when Lauren sat down, only a towel as her clothing, her beautiful blue fur soaked in water and her blue hair that continued all the way past her shoulders floating in the water. It was the exact opposite of relaxing to him.

"Lauren. Why did you bring me here?" Zachorias said in a nervous tone, he sat cross legged and looked at Lauren while she continued to smile deviously. She opened her eyes and giggled.

"That's a strange question. I brought you here to have a bath and you really needed one. Relax. Just let the water take away all your stress." Lauren said while she sunk a little bit deeper into the water. Zachorias watched as Lauren's towel disappeared below the water, next her shoulders and finally only her neck was above the water. She let out a long sigh from her muzzle, at the same time her paw came in contact with Zachorias' who quickly moved his as if he had burned his paw.
Zachorias could feel his own heartbeat, it had begun to go faster when Lauren had sat down in the water and it only got faster when Lauren sunk deeper in the water.

"Damn, how long is this going to last?" Zachorias thought for himself while he tried to clear his mind by concentrating his mind towards the wall behind Lauren, but it didn't help. He began to breathe heavier than usually and his paws were shaking, just like when a soldier goes into war and feels that he's about to die there. Lauren opened her eyes and looked at the miserable looking hybrid.

"Zach? Are you all right?" Lauren said while she quickly rose up and moved over to Zachorias who was so wrapped up in his mind that he didn't notice Lauren before she leaned towards him and put her paw on his forehead to feel if he was sick. If she would have looked closer at him she would have noticed that he was blushing harder than ever before.

"You're not sick, but you're so tense. I know! I'll massage you, why don't you talk about what's on your mind?" Lauren said while she grasped Zachorias' shoulder and turned him so he had the wall in front of his face. Lauren grabbed a hold on his shoulders and began to massage them but the treatment wasn't working on Zachorias, it was only building up his stress. Since he hadn't been in this kind of situation with anyone before he was reaching his breaking point.

Sometimes she would press her body against his back and during those times Zachorias had to gather all of his willpower in order not to snap. He didn't like this kind of touching between two furs who didn't properly know eachother. It went against what his parents had taught him.

Zachorias swore in his mind that he could hear his own heartbeats and he could see her in his mind pulling him into the bathhouse, ordering a small and private bath where there wasn't much room to move in, her entering the same bath wearing but a towel, her slow, tender movements when she descended into the bath. Finally when Lauren gently bit his ear he snapped.

"I can't take this anymore! I give up! I'll do anything if you will let me out!"
Zachorias yelled while he rose up from the bath, holding his ears with his paws and his eyes closed. Lauren, who had fallen backwards from the outburst that Zachorias unleashed, rose up from the water while holding her towel in place with only one paw.

"Very well. Answer my question: Why do you wear those bandages? What are you hiding beneath them?" Lauren said in a normal, calm tone, her plan was working and she was only a few steps away from knowing the truth but Zachorias froze on that spot, his mind was shattered but still he doubted his ears.

"What?! I'm not going to answer that!" He yelled, he couldn't believe that she had done all this just to learn what he was hiding under the bandages.

"Fine! Then why aren't you answering my question? Tell me!" Lauren yelled furiously, she wanted to know the truth and just when she was about to learn why, he had recovered. Zachorias turned his head around and yelled a loud "NO!" in her face, they could both feel the magical powers they were unleashing with their arguing flow through and around the bath, creatingf waves in the water.

"Answer me! Why are you wearing those bandages! Or do you have some kind of scar there that you have pride in?" Lauren screamed for one last time, and as fate would have it, she wouldn't need to wait nor ask anymore times because now Zachorias had grown tired of the same question and he realized that the only way to get her to shut up would be to tell her. She didn't know what she had said but she soon would realize how far away from the truth she had been.

"It's because I am a necromancer!" Zachorias yelled in Lauren's face and ripped apart his bandages, showing the dark runes on his wrists. Lauren gasped for air and placed her paw infront of her muzzle in shock, she hadn't been expecting this as the answer.

"From the looks of your face I'd say that you weren't really expecting that. It's true, I used to practice the dark arts! I was considered a child genius, as a mere student I had mastered several types of spells that older students were only practicing! I was offered a place in the dark council thanks to my skills, but when my parent's were killed my eyes were opened. I changed my schooling and became a white mage instead. Now you know and...and I hope you have fun on your journey thinking about it. I'm leaving."

Lauren now understood why he hadn't told her, no sane person would have told another living soul either. She felt bad about forcing him to answer her question but she had wanted to know. How could she have known that it would turn out like this. She stood up and grabbed a hold on Zachorias' arm when he had risen up and was leaving the bath.

"No! Don't go! Please. Zach I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you. I beg you, please don't go." Lauren said while Zachorias halted. He didn't want to argue with her, it wouldn't be difficult to just walk away and turn a blind eye to what he had experienced these past days but then he would forget about Lauren too. He sighed and turned slowly around, he wasn't ready to do that.

"Everyone needs a second chance, right?" Zachorias thought for himself.

"Very well. But why did you have to ask? It should have been obvious that I didn't want to talk about it when I kept on evading your question." Zachorias said while he sat down and breathed deeply a couple of times. Lauren, first shocked, but then a weak smile spread across her muzzle, sat down too and as a sign of trust, only two meters away from Zachorias as a sign of trust.

"I thought that you didn't trust me." Lauren said, her tail wrapped itself slowly around her left leg as she tried to explain her actions. Zachorias stared at her intensively making her feel even worse about herself.

"Lauren. How could I trust you? We only met less than a day ago. My trust is gained, not given without work." Zachorias said firmly while Lauren lowered her head in shame.

"I'm sorry. Can you forgive me? I really wish to know you better and earn your trust." Lauren said with a sad voiced, Zachorias could tell that she was on the brink of crying. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Very well. I forgive you. And remember, next time you want to know something about me, you wait until I trust to tell you. Now let's go." Zachorias said while he offered his paw to Lauren, who first looked at him with sad, tearful eyes but she quickly wiped them off and grabbed Zachorias' paw.

"That place was really expensive!" Zachorias said while he and Lauren stepped out from the bath house. It was starting to get dark and the streets were empty. No more shops were open. Zachorias looked in his coin purse and let out a small whimper, Lauren forced out a smile while she looked in his purse.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it would cost that much. Aww...Look. All the stores are closed. What should we do now?" Lauren said while she looked from one shop to another, trying to find anyone that was open.

"How about we go and get a place to sleep for the night?" Zachorias said with a tired tone. The day had been long and the bath had been so relaxing that he could barely keep his eyes open. They walked back towards the front gates of the town and entered the inn. Zachorias' mind was filled by thoughts of a nice bed, not pre warmed of course since they couldn't afford that kind of luxury.

"Good evening! How may I help You?" Zachorias heard someone say and he quickly replied before Lauren would try another of her tricks.

"Two small rooms please." And the feline who was working there began to write something down on a piece of paper. Lauren opened her muzzle, but realized that it was best to just stat quiet. They both gave the feline a silver coin and in exchange they got their keys for their rooms.

"Here we are. These two rooms were empty so you can sleep here. Thank You and goodnight." A young canine servant said while he lead Zachorias and Lauren to their rooms. He bowed and walked back downstairs incase his owner would have any more work to him. Zachorias wished Lauren goodnight and she blushed a little and wished him the same.

Zachorias looked at the room he had rented and yawned. There was only one source of light, a candle that had been placed on the table next to the bed. He placed his sword against the wall and locked the door. He yawned again and loosened the belts around his waist, then he took of his robe and shirt and placed them on a chair next to the table with the candle.

"Good night." He said to himself while he blew out the candle and the whole room became dark, completely dark except for a small light that came from Zachorias' chest fur. The amulet he wore. He held it in his paw and looked at it. If he concentrated his eyes he could see the faces of his parents, they smiled at him, obviously happy that he had finally talked about his problems with someone. His mind began to go numb when he slowly fell deeper and deeper asleep. He felt happiness, to know that he could talk with someone and not get marked as a demon in return.

End of Chapter 13
Dark and Light...