Reincarnation: Beyond Mortal Bounds.

The sun was shining brightly over the camp's courtyard, casting a warm glow over the bustling lunch crowd.

Riven sat at a corner table with Anya as they ate their lunches, flirting and cracking jokes.

Both teens were looking forward to tomorrow. Anya was finally going to make her move on Riven. Everything was going well. Well, that was until Kaelen and his boys swaggered over, their smirks indicating they were up to no good.

"If it isn't the little girly-looking boy and his little blonde girlfriend." Kaelen sneered, eyeing Riven and Anya. His minions chuckled, circling closer. "Are you two on a date?"

Riven rolled his eyes straightening up, clearly unimpressed at his sorry excuse attempt at insult.

Ever since Riven kicked Kaelen off his feet in combat class, Kaelen has been appearing in places Riven is and casually throwing insults, but Riven has ignored all of it. He knew the older boy's ego was bruised, and he was lashing out, but this was definitely crossing the line.

"Leave us alone, Kaelen. As you can see, we're eating. We don't have your time, go bother someone else."

"You've got quite the mouth for someone this scrawny." Kaelen taunted and Riven scoffed.

"And yet someone this scrawny kicked your ass," Riven replied with a smirk.

Suddenly, Kaelen's eyes darkened. "You wanna fight, Riven? For real this time with your precious Prince? Let's see how tough you really are."

Before anyone could stop him, Kaelen swung his fist, but Riven dodged, retaliating with a quick punch. The fight escalated quickly, chaos erupting around them. Kaelen's friends joined in, grabbing Riven, pulling him down.

"Your minions are helping you because you know you can't fight me one-on-one, huh? You're just a loser, Kaelen. A loser who fights dirty."

That was the wrong thing to say. Kaelen's face twisted in anger, and with a growl, he and his minions attacked.

"Stop it! You're going to hurt him!" Anya screamed at the top of her lungs but

Riven barely had time to brace himself before the chaos erupted. A sickening crack echoed through the air as Kaelen's fist collided with Riven's shoulder—then another. Kaelen just kept punching until the sound of Riven's scream tore from his throat—raw, primal, like a banshee mourning her lost child.

"Oh no!" Anya whispered, eyes wide with horror.

"No... no..." Riven whimpered, clutching his arm.

Pain exploded through his arm—a terrible, burning sensation. His face twisted in agony as he realized what had happened: his arm was broken. Tears blurred his vision as he tried to crawl away from the older boys, but his arm was facing the wrong direction. It was broken! These motherfuckers had pulled his fucking arm out of the socket and broken his bones. Everything was mangled, a twisted nightmare of flesh and bone.

It hurts! It fucking hurts!

Riven's vision was blurring and fading fast!

Is he going to lose consciousness because of a fucking broken arm? How weak is this fucking body?

Pathetic!

He couldn't even stop them from hurting him? What was the point of all this training?

Anya's insistent screaming must've caught everyone's attention, including Vaelorian's, because he was suddenly by Riven's side. His face was a storm of anger and fear. His eyes burned with fury at the sight of Riven suffering, yet worry clenched tightly in his chest.

"Hold on, Riven! I've got you," he said urgently, kneeling down and examining the damage. His voice sounded panicked but he tried to stay calm.

"I need to get you to the healers. I can't heal you in front of everyone," Vaelorian spoke into Riven's head, and the younger boy could only whimper his reply.

Vaelorian carefully lifted Riven into his arms, the boy trembled because of the immense pain he was in but also relieved Vaelorian was here. Vaelorian's hands shook slightly as he cradled Riven, feeling the cold sweat on his forehead, the trembling of the boy's small frame.

"Let us have a look, Your Highness." Two healers hurried over, meeting them halfway, their faces masks of concern.

Vaelorian gave them access to Riven without letting go of him.

"Please, hold still, my lord." one healer whispered, preparing to set the broken bone.

Her hands trembled slightly, knowing how delicate this was. Vaelorian tried to take some of Riven's pain without drawing attention. He looked at the boy in his arms with a mixture of fear and complete helplessness.

"Riven," Vaelorian said softly. "I need you to bite down on my hand. It will help you through the pain when they reset your arm. Can you do that for me?"

Riven's eyes widened suddenly looking more alert than ever. "No!" he shouted, his voice firm despite the pain. "I don't want to bite your hand!"

The healers hesitated, exchanging worried glances. "Lord Riven, it's the best way," one said softly. "This is really going to hurt."

But Riven was not one to give in easily. He clenched his jaw, refusing to submit. When the healer tried again, Riven shrieked like a banshee, his voice piercing and wild as he struggled against Vaelorian's hold. Vaelorian just held him closer, his hands were warm and firm.

"Riven, please," Vaelorian urged gently, but the younger boy shook his head stubbornly.

"Just do it! I can take it." Riven said boldly.

The healers looked at Vaelorian as if asking for permission, and he nodded hesitantly, and they got to work. Snap! Riven's screams echoed through the courtyard, raw and loud. Vaelorian closed his eyes as if trying to block out the sound.

He's never going to be able to get this sound out of his head.

The healers, visibly anxious, hurried to finish their work, carefully taking away the pain after snapping the arm back into place. The sound was horrible, like cracking ice. Riven's body tensed, every muscle screaming in protest. Finally, the pain subsided completely, and Riven collapsed onto Vaelorian's arms, he was a trembling mess.

I can't believe this pathetic body couldn't even handle a broken arm, Riven thought.

This is so fucking embarrassing!

By now the commotion had drawn the attention of almost everyone in the camp, the instructors and campers gathered around, whispering in shock. The camp's securities were also called, and Kaelen and his minions were dragged away, their faces flushed with shame and fear.

In the office of the school's commander, Kaelen sat with a terrified expression. His face was a mixture of remorse and fear.

"Which one of you did that to Lord Riven?" Commander Voss asked sternly.

"He called me a loser," Kaelen muttered, trying to justify his actions. "I had to teach him a lesson."

The commander's voice remained stern. "Breaking someone's arm because of an insult is serious. We'll discuss your punishment, and your parents will be notified."

Meanwhile, Vaelorian had insisted on having Riven rest in the infirmary even though the healers had completely fixed his arm and he was no longer in any physical pain; his ego is bruised, though. Vaelorian was sitting beside Riven on the bed, gently running his hand through the younger boy's hair. Riven looked up at him. He was feeling a strange sensation in his chest. He can't get over the memories of how scared Vaelorian looked earlier.

Yeah, his arm had hurt like hell earlier but Vaelorian knew they would heal him in no time. So, why did he look so lost and hunted?

Riven could hear the healers whispering from the slightly opened door as they cast not-so-discreet glances inside the room.

"He's lucky it wasn't worse. That boy was very brave not to bite down on his Highness' hand. It's always the fragile-looking ones who surprise us with their bravery," one of them whispered, and others nodded in agreement.

Vaelorian turned a sharp glare towards their direction and they closed the door and ran away.

Riven couldn't help but smile as he looked at Vaelorian, whose eyes were fixed on him as if he was afraid Riven would disappear if he even looked away for a second, a small smile curling his lips despite the hell he'd just survived.

"Thanks, Vaelorian," he whispered, voice hoarse. "I'm sorry for worrying you. That must've been quite the scare"

Vaelorian shook his head and squeezed his hand gently, his eyes filled with unspoken emotion.

"You don't have to apologize to me, you didn't do anything wrong. It's all my fault, I should have known Kaelen would do something like this, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, what's done is done, let's not talk about it anymore," Riven said gently.

"You were so brave back there!" Vaelorian said in almost a whisper.

"I was pretty badass huh? I think I deserve an award for my bravery," Riven replied, chuckling quietly, and Vaelorian couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Only you would make jokes in times like this," Vaelorian said fondly, a smile gracing his lips.

"Who told you I'm joking?" Riven asked mischievously. "I'm serious about getting an award."

"Oh really?" Vaelorian asked, his voice suddenly more husky than he remembered.

"Yes, really," Riven replied in a whisper-like tone, leaning closer to the older boy.

Vaelorian didn't mean to, but his eyes dropped to Riven's plump, juicy lips. He gulped when the younger boy sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, and he completely lost it. All restraints flew out of the window. He closed the gap and connected their lips.

Vaelorian was afraid that Riven would push him away, but he didn't. Instead, he kissed him back, and boy, he tasted like heaven!

Riven had his arm broken, and now he's kissing Vaelorian, and boy, he doesn't want to stop. How weird is that?

Kissing Riven is everything Vaelorian had imagined it would be, and even better, he didn't want to stop, but the moment Riven moaned into his mouth, he suddenly regained his senses. He shot up from the bed, eyes wide, and looked scared out of his mind.

What had he just done?

"I'm sorry, I have to go." It was the only thing Vaelorian said before Riven watched him vanish before his eyes.