(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 419

Chapter 419: A sudden revelation
“Isn’t your throat sore?” Kellen asked quietly. The room was practically empty at this early of an hour, but Rhys and Kellen weren’t alone. While Kellen and Rhys were sitting next to each other and Kellen had been quiet, no other noise was happening in the room.

It was also just the three of them. Kellen, Rhys and Taylor. Taylor was lying down on a few of the chairs, making herself comfortable as she let her hair dangle over the edge while she was on her phone. Kellen could see her face from here since Rhys was sitting to his right, and Taylor was further down.

He watched as her eyes bulged and she nearly dropped her phone onto her face. Rhys also looked incredibly embarrassed but Taylor pretended not to hear. Rhys coughed, almost to prove Kellen’s point that he should be concerned about his throat.

Kellen had passed out after they had finished guiding, his body pushed to a point he couldn’t come back from. Rhys had woken him up a few minutes before they were supposed to be down here. Rhys had bathed him while Kellen had been asleep, taken care of him and also gotten a little bit of work done with Kellen in his arms.

Kellen had felt a little guilty about that. They were supposed to distract each other, keep their minds occupied but Rhys had assured Kellen that Rhys had certainly been occupied while Kellen had fallen asleep due to exhaustion.

It was a privilege that Kellen had passed out due to the things that Rhys had done to his body. How far he’d pushed him, in a good way. Kellen still didn’t quite believe him, which was why he was bringing up his throat.

Taylor was here. She could heal him.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen worse. She was in charge of all Espers and Guides in this Guild. Brent and Hill were a part of that, and he was sure there were freakier couples out there. Kellen considered them quite mild for the most part.

He’d done research, as any good science boy should. Looked into more about submissive and dominant relationships. They were quite mild, and Kellen still wasn’t fully certain he ever wanted to go the full mile. He liked their dynamic as it was. Neither one of them had to fit into either box, just when they wanted to. He still believed that they should make a word for when one of them wanted a certain treatment.

Kellen just kept forgetting about it, getting lost in the moment. He hadn’t had a hard stance either way and usually liked whatever Rhys wanted to do. He trusted him.

“K-Kellen, I’m fine. We shouldn’t speak about this in case anyone else is listening.” Rhys said. He was speaking in an even quieter tone then Kellen and Kellen rolled his eyes.

“Taylor is my friend, and let’s be honest with everyone in this room. Rhys and I aren’t the worst offenders when it comes to injuries she’s probably had to heal. I’m allowed to be worried about you, aren’t I?” Kellen said. “Plus, now would be the perfect time. No one would even know we went to the Medical Bay this way.” Kellen’s argument was sound, but he could also tell that the people involved weren’t convinced.

“Kellen, I don’t think-” Everyone froze, halting Taylor’s words as they began to hear the voices of others. They were hushed, but with all three of their elevated hearing they were able to pick up the group approaching.

Taylor sat up, the conversation pushed to the side in favour for the task at hand. Kellen didn’t mind. He wouldn’t drop it though. Now, they had to go to the Medical Bay for healing, and this time Kellen wasn’t going to balk at the rumours.

Kellen’s members were a little hesitant coming in, a little cautious. They all brightened at the sight of Kellen. Most rushed forward to greet him, in high spirits while a few seemed tired or cautious. Kellen didn’t mind. He was ready to welcome them as he had everyone else. Taylor also got to her feet as Rhys went to the Esper who had ferried all of Kellen’s Guides.

Most of the Guides were uninjured, well taken care of. Kellen imagined that they were even more coddled then the groups before them because of the situation. Everyone would have been cautious with them, especially their own Espers, and probably Sergei’s as well. Sakura’s Guild were mostly back in the city, with only a few remaining as researchers for the gate on the front lines. They were also drafted into ‘security’ for the city along with some of the smaller Guilds.

That was a good thing, and it meant that Taylor didn’t have to hang around for long and after saying goodbye to a few Guides that she knew personally, she gave Kellen a hug before she saluted Rhys, completely without any effort or intention, and left the room.

Rhys and Esper Morrison were in an intense conversation while Kellen checked in with his Guides. It seems either something else had happened, or it was about the current situation. Kellen didn’t barge in.

He could wait his turn.

Instead, he spoke to his Guides, sent off the ones that were too tired to the rooms assigned to them for the night since getting home at this hour wasn’t recommended, and then remained chatting to the ones that hung around.

It was about half an hour later when the last Guide left, unable to keep their eyes open. Kellen waved them off with a smile, waiting for the door to close before he turned to the rather serious looking Espers.

“What’s wrong?” Kellen asked, getting to the point. “Was it the new Espers?” Rhys’ expression was firm, his eyes tight and Esper Morrison didn’t look any better. He had his hands clenched at his sides, his expression a little pale.

“It’s about them, yes.” He confirmed and Rhys let out a rumble.

“Hill found out why they were here.” Rhys said. “How they got here.” He confirmed. “It was Tom, and it was a bribe. They say that they are a new ‘Guild’,” Rhys put Guild into air quotes with his fingers, disgust on his face. “They arrived just as the Guides were leaving. We made the right call. Fuck.” Rhys sounded pissed. Kellen believed he had every right.

Kellen wanted to knock some sense into Tom right now. What the hell was he thinking? Did he want to kill not only his family, but everyone on the front lines?

“What a fucking moron. Did you notice anything strange as you were leaving?” Kellen asked, turning to the other Esper in the room. He swallowed thickly.

“No. We didn’t have a chance to. We were, quite literally, leaving as they were coming to a stop at the gates. I caught sight of one of them and I nearly…Something’s not right with them.” He whispered and Kellen felt all the hair on his body stand up.

It was like hearing him say that triggered something inside of him and Kellen turned to Rhys.

“I don’t feel good.” Kellen whispered and Rhys’ eyes went wide as Kellen’s head began to pound and he felt ill. Rhys caught him as he stumbled.

“Kellen? Oh my god, Kellen!” Rhys’ shouting didn’t help as Rhys practically carried him to a chair. Kellen’s head was aching, felt like it would split. He felt helpless as he grabbed it with both hands, gasping and sucking in air. “Get Green back here! She shouldn’t be far!” Rhys shouted to Esper Morrison, and Kellen hunched in on himself.

Something was flashing in his head, behind his eyes. It was moving too quickly, too fast for him to realise what it was at first. It took him a few more minutes of pure agony before he realised what he was witnessing.

The cantina, the general store, spitting smoke and fire as a fight happened outside of it.

Kellen’s heart nearly stopped. It looked like it was mid-day. He couldn’t make out anything else, nothing, but he knew, just knew it was because of the new Espers that just arrived.

Kellen, his hand a claw, slammed down on Rhys’ thigh. His throat felt dry, his eyes watery as he tried to speak. It felt like he hadn’t spoken in months.

“Rhys. Rhys we need to warn the front lines.” Kellen croaked and Rhys stared at him in horror and severe worry.

“What? What do we need to warn them about?” Rhys asked, his breath hot, his hands shaking as they covered Kellen’s hand gripping onto his thigh.

“The new Espers. The general store. They’re going to explode it.” Kellen croaked out, his voice hoarse. He tried to swallow, couldn’t get enough saliva and it felt like someone was trying to split his head in half.

“They’re going to try to explode the general store?” Rhys confirmed. He didn’t sound like he was questioning what Kellen was saying, and Kellen couldn’t even look at his face right now to gauge his reaction either. He felt like if he opened his eyes, they might pop out.

“Yes! You need to let them know now!” Kellen felt a sense of urgency fill him, and his eyes began to water. He felt helpless, so far away. He just wanted to help it, stop it. “I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but it feels soon!” Kellen felt like he was screaming. He needed to get the words out, he needed to let everyone know. He needed to-

Just as quickly as the moment had come, it was gone.

Kellen swayed at the sudden loss of crippling pain. Sucking in deep breaths of air over and over into his lungs as he tried to stabilize himself.

Rhys tugged him close, holding him as Kellen trembled like a leaf.

“What just happened?” Kellen whispered, panic lacing his words. He was shaken, he was terrified, and most of all, he had no idea what had just happened to him. Rhys just held him closer.

“We’ll figure this out. Don’t worry. Just relax.” Rhys whispered, holding him, rocking him as Kellen clung to the other man, tears in his eyes.

“You need to tell them.” Kellen repeated, before exhaustion took him over and he passed out.