Chapter 62

Chapter 62: 62 "Wow..." "Aunt Yeung has more impressive ones." "Is it okay for you to do that though?" worried Misha. "You won’t make your seal... worse or anything?" "It’s okay," replied Bran. "I’m not using any extra power, just activating preexisting infrastructure." "Okay..." They both fell silent, suddenly aware that they were alone now together. It was properly night now, but the forest, or at least the part they were in, was relatively bright. High above the trees hung the full moon. It seemed larger and brighter than normal, or, maybe, Bran thought, he’d never had reason to look at it properly. It was quiet, absurdly quiet for the middle of a forest, and Bran sneaked a look at Misha. He was looking up at the moon, its light catching in his eyes and sculpting out his sharp features making him look even more draconic than usual. After looking for a while, Bran finally decided that was enough voyeurism and got up, offering Misha a hand. "How did you project your voice like that earlier?" he asked as he pulled Misha up. Bran had been planning on tracking Misha the old way through just feel alone, but that would have taken a lot longer. It had been a good idea on Misha’s part to do what he did. "Project my voice? What do you mean?" asked Misha. He wobbled a little and Bran raised an arm to steady him. "I heard you shouting for help," said Bran. "But I didn’t shout..." A movement caught Misha’s eye and he suddenly darted to the side and pounced onto the ground and for a moment Bran thought he’d suddenly gone mad and, or, fainted. "Misha!" Bran rushed to Misha’s side and saw that instead of going mad, Misha instead had a small body pinned to the ground beneath him. "You traitor!" Misha yelled as he kept the wriggling Mini Colin from worming his way out. "I gave you biscuits!" The little man paused his struggling for a moment as though that accusation caused him real guilt. Bran stared down at the pair of them then crouched beside them. "Why is he...?" he pointed to Mini Colin. "Help!" the little man squeaked but to Bran, it was Misha’s voice that came out of the little mouth. Everything became clear to Bran. "How could you tell my father where I was? He’s-" exclaimed Misha. "I don’t think he meant to betray you," Bran interrupted as he reached over. He pinched Mini Colin’s wrist with one hand then used the other to pluck a golden thread from the inside of his sleeve. Mini Colin gave one last spasm then lay still. "What? Did you... kill him?" asked Misha, a little aghast. He was angry at the guy but not angry to that extent... He let Mini Colin go and was relieved when the small body twitched then sat up. "This is a puppet thread," said Bran as he took a paper charm from his pocket and wrapped the thread inside it. "I’ll give it to Aunt Yeung to have a look at it but my guess is your father is quite the talent when it comes to puppetry magic." Misha grimaced. "I’d rather you called him ’Artemis’," he said. "I’ll do that too," he added after a moment. Bran nodded. "Alright. Artemis then," he held up the folded paper then tucked it into his pocket, "I suspect he must have used something like the compass jar spell to track any missing parts of Colin. I originally thought Colin was merely a purpose built puppet, like a robot made of cogs and servos, once you break it apart, each part becomes totally separate, so severing Mini Colin from the main portion should have cut all connections. But as it turned out..." Both he and Misha looked to the oozing pool of black some metres away. "As it happens, Colin was really a subjugated Hungry Ghost, which means every part of it contains its essence. I guess you can think of it like DNA for humans. Not only are our parts identifiable but they can also be inherited." Bran turned back to the little man sitting politely on the ground. "And as for you, earlier, that was you pretending to be Misha and calling out for me, right?" Bran said to Mini Colin. Mini Colin gave an enthusiastic nod. "You hear his voice as mine?" asked Misha. "Yeah," replied Bran. "Making puppets made from Hungry Ghosts is a forbidden art. I’ve never seen it in person, but apparently they sound like whoever it is that you... want to hear the most." He paused. "When he speaks, who do you hear?" he asked in a quieter voice. Misha cleared his throat and ignored the question, instead turning back to Mini Colin. "Turn back into paper," he ordered. The little man gave a courteous bow and disappeared into a puff of smoke and a piece of paper. Misha caught it before it hit the ground and folded it up. Then he got up and helped Bran up as well. "I hear your voice," he said quietly, refusing to meet Bran’s gaze. "My father, no, Artemis got Original Colin to trick me into coming out here. He thought I’d hear my mother’s voice but... I hear you instead." Misha chuckled. "Worked just the same though but-" A hand gently tilted his chin up followed by a pair of lips on his. Bran kissed him softly, barely pressing their lips together but it was more than enough to take Misha’s breath away. After a moment, their lips parted. "Misha," he said, still standing close. "Do you think I’m a hypocrite?" Still dazed, Misha looked blankly at him as his mind and body struggled to catch up. "I think..." His gaze fell to Bran’s lips. "I think I need another kiss to help me think..." Bran kissed him again, more forcefully this time. Misha responded in kind, pressing forward and taking Bran by the shoulders. Bran seemed to react on instinct and put an arm around Misha’s waist while cupping his cheek with the other. This kiss went on for longer and they were both panting when it ended. "Well?" asked Bran. Even in the gloom of the forest he could see the blush on Misha’s cheeks. He felt he must look the same. "I think your lips are softer than they look and that you’re about as experienced as me when it comes to kissing," replied Misha. "I don’t have any experience kissing," admitted Bran. He was embarrassed to say it, but he wasn’t going to lie to Misha about it... "What a coincidence, neither do I," replied Misha. Bran deflated a little as he realised he may have just gotten played. He shook his head, still keen to get his question answered. "Do you-" he began again. "I don’t think you’re a hypocrite. I think you’re human." The statement hung in the air, thawing the ice that Bran had been cultivating in his heart in the hopes of stemming the flow of feelings he had for this dragon. "You..." his words caught in his throat and he quickly looked away. Misha raised his hands from Bran’s shoulders and held his face, running his thumbs just under his eyes and up over his cheek bones. He’d wanted to do that for a long time and he could feel the slight tremor run through Bran’s body as he did. "I think you hold yourself to a very high standard," said Misha. "Maybe you were born like that, but I think that maybe... it’s because of what your father did. You hate what he did to you, and I’m guessing he did bad things to other people too, but since you’re still his son, you want to prove that you’re better than him. Use action to surpass blood." Bran’s eyes widened a little as Misha said this. He’d never thought of that, hadn’t thought about the ’whys’ of what he did for a long time, but he felt there was some level of truth in Misha’s words. But at the same time, the idea filled Bran with fear. If what Misha said was true, did that mean that everything he’d done up to this point had still been under the influence of that man? "Anyway," Misha went on, "I know that the only reason you rejected me is because you’re thinking about the greater good and not wanting to hurt me or get yourself hurt, it’s not because you’re actually against the idea. So..." he looked very seriously into Bran’s eyes, "get ready to be seduced!" Bran ducked his head to suppress the laugh, all serious thoughts gone. "I thought you were going to say something profound," he said. "How is seduction not profound? Seduction is core to being human." "But I thought you were a dragon?" "Seduction is core to being a dragon." "And if one of us was a phoenix?" "Seduction is core to being a phoenix." Bran couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore and he grabbed Misha in a rough hug as he shook. "Misha." "Yeah?" "I love you." "I know. I love you too."