Tyler left the brothel and walked back towards the tent. As he did, many Bandito residents watched him, and saw how mighty, beautiful, and powerful he was. It was as if he didn't display any of his flowered form.

They had no idea that this child was given permission to banish Ender and Wren from execution, but it turned him into a completely different person.

Tyler felt he had accomplished some thing that he had never done before. For the first time since he was held captive by Dema, he was no longer afraid, or being held back.

This achievement made him want to do something that he had not done for a very long time, and he knew exactly where to go.

To his lover, Josh.

As the man sat in his tent, smoking a cigar, while, looking over his notes, he was met with the timid footsteps of his sweet flowered boy.

However, when he turned around, he saw him standing there at the entrance of the tent. His jacket and pants were unbuttoned.

Josh was confused.

"What's going on, baby?"

"I thought you'd might want to see me."

As he said this, he took off his jacket, pants, and shirt, until he was completely naked.

Josh was stunned. He hadn't seen Tyler naked since he brought him into his home over a year ago.

He remembered when he first bathed him, then bedded him, and they would make love all the time.

But, it all stopped when Tyler was taken by Dema, and he never thought he would make love to him again.

Until now.

Josh walked over and wrapped his arms around the child's naked body, then he smiled with the most beautiful grin.

"I've always wanted to see you, my love."

"Really?" Tyler asked.

Josh nodded.

"Yes."

Tyler smiled, then they began to passionately kiss.

The kiss then turned even more passionate than when they started. Tyler started taking off Josh's clothes, and kissed him on the neck.

Once Josh was naked, he carried the boy onto his cot, laid him down flat, and kissed him down his neck line to his chest. Tyler moaned as the man eventually reached his flowered stemmed dick.

Then, Josh sucked him, and the moans got louder, full of passion, power, and love.

"Give it to me, Josh!" The child cried. "I want to feel it!"

The man sucked him over and over, as the moans reached the peek of an orgasm.

"I'm gonna do it, Josh! It's coming!"

"Do it, now, baby!"

Tyler screamed out as loud as he could; releasing the cum from his dick. It splattered all over the bed; leaving behind pecks of petal and stem.

Josh licked away the cum, then gently kissed his chest up towards his neck. Then, he laid next to him as they finished. They both were heavily out of breath.

"Oh, my God, Josh!" Tyler cried; catching his breath. "That was the best sex we've ever had in a long time!"

"You think so?" Josh asked; also catching his breath.

Tyler laid himself on top of Josh.

"I know so."

Josh lightly caressed his beautiful flowered face.

"You've come a long way, and I think, after tonight, you've really showed that."

"I'm not afraid anymore." Tyler said. "Ender didn't scare me. He seemed to be more afraid of me."

"Well, he got very lucky."

The two chuckled, then kissed again, until they fell fast asleep.

~

Outside of the tent, a strange figure stood nearby. He had a menacing expression on his face, but he was dark with a hood draped over him.

Before anyone could take notice, he disappeared. His sound caught the eye of a few Bandito guards, who went to grab the second in command, which was Kai.

Kai was bedding with Linh. When the guards arrived, they were met with the couple both hidden under the blankets of their cot.

"Kai, we need you." They said.

The Bandito and his girl rose from under the blankets.

"What's going on, fellas." Kai asked.

"We have a disturbance outside."

"What? What are you talking about?!"

"Kai, you need to come outside and check it out."

The Bandito looked to Linh, who had a look of worry on her face.

"What's happening?" She asked.

"Come on, Linh." Kai said; touching her cheek. "You have to come with me."

The woman nodded, and the two quickly got out of bed, got dressed, and followed the guards outside.

Josh and Tyler were also alerted, and the group met in the center part of Trench.

"Kai, what's happening?" Josh asked; holding Tyler's hand.

"There was a man that was spotted outside of camp." Kai replied. "Our scouts have reason to believe that Ender has escaped, along with Wren."

When Tyler heard this, he felt his heart pumping out of his chest. He was terrified to learn about this.

"He escaped?!" Josh cried.

"Wasn't he supposed to be executed by now?" Linh asked.

Josh did not want to reveal what he had done, so he lied.

"I postponed it to sunset, and now he's gone!"

Tyler was trying so hard to stay quiet, but he was afraid for his life, and for Josh's life.

"This can't be happening!" Linh cried. "What if he tries to kill us again!"

Kai squeezed Linh's hand.

"It won't happen."

"We must be on our guard." Josh said. "I want everyone searching the camp, and on the outskirts of Trench. I want Ender and Wren alive and unarmed."

The guards that stood nearby, heard the order and quickly added on it.

As this was happening, Tyler leaned over and clung onto Josh. He was horribly scared.

"J-Josh, I-I don't want to believe this is true."

"Darling, it's not your fault." The man replied. "We're gonna figure this out, and we'll do it right."

"I-I should've listened to you-"

"Shhh."

Josh held the child close to him and did his best calm him down, but Tyler's fear grew within himself, and the guilt overwhelmed him.

Had he listened to Josh and agreed to the execution of Ender and Wren, none of this would've happened.

~

The next few hours of the night passed as if time didn't pass at all. Bandito guards searched every inch of Trench, but nothing had come up.

As this was happening, Josh, Tyler, Kai, Linh, and a few Bandito men and women sat around a fire, while tension began to rise around them.

In an attempt to calm the tension, Tyler sang a song that he wrote while he was locked in Dema. This was the first time, besides Josh, that anyone had heard the child sing.

the trees grow outward similar as inward
little jutes of branches like little growths of roots.
peculiar the parallelism of nature and our nature

when the final slash hits
and the mass impressions the ground
you can see the wear of the world

year by year and moment by moment
carvings and taps
nails and arrows
and finally the slashes,

whether figurative or literal,
that were used to bring such
a beautiful beast down to its knees.

As Tyler concluded the song, he felt as if the world around him stood still. He looked up from the fire, and saw that all the Banditos did not acknowledge him, or even look at him.

He turned to Josh, who sat next to him, and he had his hands wrapped around his knee, and he was looking straight into the fire. He called out his name, but he did not respond.

Something wasn't right.

As the panic set in, with no warning of what was happening, Tyler's world started to crumble, and then was met with sudden darkness.

Unbeknownst to the flower, and the Banditos surrounding him, a pair of black hands wrapped around his pale white throat and dragged him away into the unknown.