Chapter Text
The numbness in Rafe’s legs barely registered as he continued to drag Sam’s large frame through the woods, his strength never usually failed him but the stress of their current situation had him feeling weak. His side was damp with Sam's blood, his skin felt cold and to rub salt in the wound, there was not way in hell they were reaching their destination on foot in one day.
"Seriously gonna need that luck right about now." Rafe snarled, as if he was making the demand to God himself. Gently, he lowered Sam's body to lay down on the leaf litter and used the satchel as a makeshift pillow. "Sam!" He firmly yelled in the man’s face, slapping his cheek. "Sam, come on, please stay awake."
Sam's eyes flickered ever so slightly, but it did little to waver Rafe's fears. His mind racing back to years ago when he lost her. He was helpless to save her and could only watch as his love was burned at the stake. Their relationship had been discovered, and Rafe made a decision that he will never stop regretting until the day he dies.
Not long after the local clergy had found out the young woman was in a relationship with a demon, they found her guilty of conspiring with evil forces and she was sentenced to death, but not before starving her for a week. The night before her execution, Rafe visited her at the window of her cell. He promised, he fucking promised her, he’d free her somehow. However the next morning quickly came, and Rafe fled the area!
But his cowardly decision to run didn’t stop him from hearing every scream she let out as her innocent body was engulfed in flames and the townspeople chanted for her demise. Her screams still haunt him at night and sometimes, when he’s alone in the woods at night, he swears he can still hear those blood curdling cries. He did nothing to save her back then, but looking at Sam's paling face he thinks.
Not this time, I won’t run again.
He produced the water bottle from the satchel and lifted Sam's head. "If you can hear me, Sam, please drink." Placing the bottle to his lips, his heart skipped a beat as Sam took a big gulp of water. He sighed in relief. He still had the strength to drink, which meant he still had time to get him to help. But how, they need something help get them to the end of the journey, something like-
Rafe’s ears pricked up at the unmistakable snorting of a horse. He scanned the woodlands around them and spotted a figure in the distance. A merchant riding slowly along. Fuck it. He thought, Covers been blown enough in the last few days, what’s one more human knowing?
He drew his blade and took one more look at Sam, stroking his cheek. "Please be safe." Placing a kiss on his forehead and at superhuman speeds, ran towards his target. He stopped on the trail the merchant was headed, making sure to stay low so he wouldn’t see him. He took the blade, laid meticulously down in the dirt and shanked the blade deep into his abdomen. It hurt a little, but he’s been hurt worse. As the clopping of hooves got closer, he lay ever so still.
"Oh, mierda!" He heard the merchant say as he got closer. The hooves came to the halt, and the sound of feet dropping to the ground could be heard. As the merchant stepped closer and closer, Rafe planned his next move. He felt the merchant's presence right above him, no time to waste. At lightning speed, he pulled the blade from his own belly and stabbed it into the merchants foot, causing the man to scream in terror. Rafe jumped up from the ground, retrieving his weapon.
"I don’t want to do anything we’re gonna regret." Rafe started, "I'll be taking your horse and you’re gonna pretend you never saw me." The Incubus pulled the merchants bags off the back of the animal and climbed aboard. The merchant blubbered and looked to Rafe, fear and confusion engraved in his features, "Why?!" The man cried. Rafe urged the animal to walk in the direction he came. "You wouldn’t believe me." He yelled back over his shoulder, and with that, Rafe kicked the horse into a gallop.
Rafe quickly reached where he’d left Sam, and he was thankfully unharmed and still breathing. "Let’s get you outta here." He said, lifting the man onto the back of the animal into as comfortable position as he could manage. Climbing back on, "Please make it." He pleaded, to who, even Rafe wasn’t sure. And once again, he galloped into the woods.
…
Rafe’s heart pounded in his chest as he urged the horse to run faster, the forest blurring around him. Sam's limp form draped over the back of the horse, his breathing shallow and ragged, and Rafe could sense his life slipping away with every passing second. The rhythmic thudding of hooves was the only sound in the night air, but Rafe’s mind was deafeningly loud with anxiety. He finally noticed the heat of Sam’s blood staining his hands as he gripped the reins, the thought of losing Sam too made him feel sick to his core. The bond between them, this connection that had begun as a curse to both of them, had evolved into something deeper, something more fragile. He couldn’t lose Sam. Not like this. His thoughts spiraled—What if it’s too late? What if I can’t save him? But there was no choice but to ride on, faster, harder, through the dark woods, hoping against everything that Sam would hold on.
…
As Rafe entered the foggy trees in a familiar section of the forest, the horse came to a screeching halt. The incubus' breath heavy and Sam's getting slower with each passing minute that he failed to notice the figure in the trees, watching them.
"Come on." Rafe hissed at the horse, kicking its sides and tugging the reigns to prod it to continue, but animal refused to move another inch. "I don’t have fucking time for this." He said venomously. He got halfway through dismounting the animal, when the sound of branches snapping and crashing to the ground sent the animal into a panic, throwing both him and Sam off and into the ground. The animal ran away back the way it came.
"Fuck!" Rafe screamed, punching the hard ground. He crawled to Sam's side, his breath heavy but slow, his wound still dripping blood. Rafe held him close to his chest and finally let himself cry. "I'm sorry Sam, I’m so fucking sorry." He sobbed into the man’s neck, he felt so cold. The figure in the trees, dropped to forest floor, the fog concealing their identity, but the unmistakable silhouette of a bow and arrow pointed in the two men’s direction was the first thing Rafe noticed.
Once the incubus showed his face, the figure lowered their weapon.
"Rafe?"
…
Sam had no clue where the hell he was, he knew he couldn’t see a damn thing and his body felt somehow heavy and light simultaneously. He tried to move his head to observe his surroundings, but he could lift his head at all and just trying to made his skull hurt. It felt like he'd just been body slammed by the queens guard, or something. Sight, hearing, touch, everything was fuzzy. But he could’ve sworn there was someone in his face, pulling at his eyelids and holding his head up. They were talking, but he couldn’t make it out.
"Sam! Can you hear me?" That voice. He knew that voice.
"R- Rafe?" He slurred. He heard what sounded like the combination of a laugh and a sob. He focused his eyes as best he could and saw the upside down image of Rafe's face. He gave what must’ve been a loopy smile, because Rafe laugh-sobbed again. "It’s okay, Sam." He whispered, stroking his face. "We’ve got help."
It was when he said that, Sam thought. Wait, someone is carrying me. Who the hell is this? He tried to look up, but was met with that awful sensation in his head again. "I'm tired, Rafe." He slurred again.
"I know but you can’t fall asleep, you hear me!" Rafe panicked. "Just keep on talking to me, please!" He begged.
"What do… do I- I say?" He asked, head groggy as ever.
"It doesn’t matter, just talk." A strange voice above him said.
"Well-" he started, "Where are we, hon?" He asked. "You’re gonna be very happy to hear this, you remember my friend?" Rafe answered.
"Yeah, the one you said was gonna help us?" He replied, "Are they here?"
"Uh huh, we’re here. And she’s gonna help you."
"But the soul bond?" Sam squeaked out. "What about it, Sam?"
"I… What about…"
"What the hell happened to you?!" Another unfamiliar voice could be heard in front of them.
"This one needs attention immediately." The first unfamiliar voice retorted. He vaguely heard a huff, and a tsk. "Bring him in here."
…
Sam wakes up only god knows how long later, head just a fuzzy as before. He's laying back on a cozy bed, the room around him looks like it was ripped out of one of his mother’s journals he thinks as he sits up to admire the place. The walls look like tree roots, growing in intricate patterns and shapes with moss littering the fine details. There was bit of furniture scattered around the place, namely a stool beside his bed and what looked like makeshift medical equipment. A sewing needle and thread, and a wooden bowl with ground up… something in it.
Bringing a hand to his head to massage his head, he saw a bandage wrapped around his elbow. Piecing together what happened before the fuzziness, he remembered his stab wound. Lifting his shirt he saw the wound now meticulously stitched up and coated in a paste that he could only assume is what the ground up mush was for.
"Where the hell am I?" He thinks out loud, and he gasps. "Fuck, Rafe?!" He exclaims, a bit louder than intended. Sam carefully climbs out of the bed and makes his way towards the door, wincing all the way. He reaches for the door knob, which he imagines must be made of some kind of gemstone, but is beaten to it when the doorknob turns and the door is opened. Rafe's face greets his and the younger man looks nothing short of exhausted. Sam smiled, "You look like shit, hon." He joked, holding his side thinking he probably didn’t look much better.
He yelped in surprise as the shorter man, pulled him down, crashing their lips together. Feeling Rafe's arms around his shoulders, Sam reciprocates by winding his arms around his waist and leaning into the kiss. Heart pounding and the pain in his side an afterthought, the older man allows himself to deepen the kiss and push his tongue against Rafe’s lips, who needs no further encouragement to let him in. Sam brought a hand up to Rafe’s cheek, stroking it with a gentle, but calloused, thumb. The incubus' mouth tasted of something sweet and he never wanted to pull away from him, he could stay like this forever.
"Christ, I thought you were here to stop this from happening?" Came a sarcastic voice beside them. Sam almost broke his neck to glare at whoever was intruding. A young woman at the end of the hall stood with a hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. She was… Like Rafe. She had horns like him, but whereas Rafe’s were ram-like, hers were more goat-like. She wore a red off-shoulder blouse complimented by a blue double split skirt.
"Chole, can you get out of here?!" Rafe grimaced, like a child whose sibling was bothering them.
"Get out? Of my own home? You’re a laugh." She chuckled. "Sorry for interrupting, try not to swallow his face, Rafe." She called out as she turned and walked away. Rafe huffed and Sam could only look down at him, "Your friend?"
"Yes, but she’s not the exact friend we’re here for." Rafe said, annoyance in his tone. "Come on, Nadine’s waiting for us."
"Aww, you mean we can’t continue back here?" Sam whinged, pulling him closer.
"No! You horny bastard." Rafe pushed away, looking down only to hide his smile. "Serious, come with me."
Sam smiled and gestured for him to lead the way, "Yes, sir."
As the walked down the halls of the house, Sam admired even more of the craftsmanship that must’ve gone into building it. The roots were starting to fade and what looked like sedimentary rock began to make up the walls. No windows, but the halls were well lit by rows of little fireflies and rocks melted into the ceiling and walls, it looked… Magical. He couldn’t help but brush his fingers against the rock walls and there was something about the rough texture that made him feel like that young man, searching for treasure with his brother for their mother. They stopped in front of a door, at the other side of the house. Rafe turned to him and gave him a serious look. "Okay, I’ll do the talking. Nadine isn’t exactly the warmest of our people, so it’s best you just sit, listen and speak when you’re spoken to, got it."
Sam didn't respond, just gestured zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key, making sure to offer a warm smile. Rafe snorted, "Okay, good."
Rafe knocked on the door and was met with a short, "Come in." From inside. Opening the door, Rafe gestured for Sam to go in first and as he stepped inside the first thing he noticed was the air seemed to be glowing, smoke like rays of blue and purple radiated in the room. The woman inside was standing at a work table and had her ever so toned back turned to them. With one hand she was picking flowers off the little pot plant beside her and with the other was grinding those flowers with some unspecified liquid to make a paste. Rafe cleared his throat and spoke up, "Nadine?"
She stopped what she was doing, slowly turning her head to look back at them, her expression unreadable. "Glad to see you’re up." She said, referring to Sam, "How are you feeling?"
"Uh, fine now, thank you." Sam nodded.
"I'd hope so, I went to a lot of work to get you into that condition." She turns to fully face them, the gold and white makeup on the once hidden side of her face now visible. She wore a dark green loose, sleeveless top with similarly coloured flares trousers, held up by a chain like belt, with coins adorning it. She continued, "There's a lot that goes into making synthetic blood and seeing as though you had almost none left, you’re lucky Rafe gave some of his."
Sam raised a brow and turned to Rafe, who just shrugged and looked down. Nadine rubbed her hands together and looked between the two, "Well, what’s the story?" She leaned back against her table and crossed her legs. It was then Sam noticed her legs, Cow legs, this woman has cow legs! Ok maybe cow legs wasn’t the best way to put it, but he's worked with enough cows to know what their legs and hooves look like. He hadn’t even noticed what Sam was saying when he finally snapped back to him informing his friend about the events of their journey. Nadine listened intently, her curls bobbing ever so lightly every time she nodded in acknowledgment. When Rafe finished, she rubbed her nose and sniffled, "That's… A lot. Do you still have the relic?" She asked.
"Sam, the ring?" He gestured toward his neck. Sam looked down, and patted his chest, "Rafe, I don’t- It’s not here." Sam watched as his partners face went white as a sheet. Quickly he reached into his shirt and pulled the ring out, laughing. Rafe's lips turned into a thin line, shoving him lightly, "Asshole." He mumbles. Sam takes the necklace off and hands it to Nadine, who seems equally unamused by the joke. Tough crowd, he thought.
Nadine carefully inspects the ring, picking up a small piece of circular glass from the table, using it to more thoroughly examine the ring. She mutters something he can’t hear under her breath and bites her lips. She tsks and places the glass down, "This should be pretty easy." She says very matter-of-factly, handing Sam back the relic. Both men nod in acknowledgment and make little mhmm sounds.
"So, you pair are ready to send you souls separate ways?" She chimed, faint hint of a smile on her face.
"Well, I don’t-" Sam started.
"Yes." Rafe said. Sam almost broke his neck to look at Rafe in disbelief. But the Incubus didn’t even give him a glance.