26 Chapter 26 Rain and Mud

They had been traveling for several days, heading west to find the area that was besieged by werewolves. Argen pointed them in the direction they needed to go each morning, to get to the next city. Each time they woke, Cherry was about a year older in body and mind. And it was becoming obvious to everyone, that Guit was falling in love with her. It made Grey and Airow uncomfortable when they first realized it, as Cherry still looked like a child, but Guit seemed to be oblivious. He doted on her, making sure she got to eat first, helping her roll up her sleeping mat each morning, and a thousand other little things, that everyone had overlooked that first day of travel.

Argen had pointedly ignored it, only looking amused when Airow and Grey became so concerned.

"Should we do something?" whispered Grey to Airow, as Guit was helping Cherry stir a pot of stew they were cooking.

"What would we do?" he answered, watching as the dailmond kept her from getting burnt when it started to bubble too much.

"The only thing you can do is make sure it stays innocent until she is fully grown. At this rate, that would only be a week, at the most," said Argen, leaning back to watch the clouds float across the sky.

They looked at each other, and decided he was probably right.

"Is it any good?" asked Cherry, as they were all dished out a bowl of the stew. She was excited because she had cooked it herself, with only minimal help from Guit.

"It's delicious!" exclaimed Guit, blowing on it to cool it.

"You haven't even tried a bite, yet!" she complained, rolling her eyes.

"It is quite good," said Grey, managing to take a small bite, and giving the girl a smile.

"You have definitely grown in your culinary abilities," said Airow.

"What do you think, Argen?" she asked, leaning forward as he looked down at his bowl.

"I think it is hot," he said.

"Oh, you!" she huffed, then broke out in a laugh when he raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you not eat much food, Airow?" she asked as he placed his half-eaten bowl down, later.

"Where I come from is a food that is so delicious and nutritious that it makes all other food seem bland. I am not allowed to go to my home and eat any of that food until my quest here in these lands, are done. I am sorry if you find it rude of me not to finish the food that you have worked so hard to make."

"I'm sorry that you miss your home. I miss my dad, and that's kind of the same thing, right?"

Airow looked at the little girl, who now looked close to ten, and nodded. How to explain to her that it wasn't the same thing at all? He knew that she cried at night, when she should have been sleeping, that no one else knew about, except him, but he had vowed not to bother her. The grief of losing her parent was nothing for him to compare to. He had prayed over her, silently, so as not to bother her rest, every night, and he liked to think it helped.

"That is very kind of you, Cherry."

"We should be heading out as early as possible, in the morning," said Grey, coming back from checking on the horses. "It looks like there will be storms in the night."

"The tent should be able to hold up in the storm," said Guit, looking over at the fabric they had draped over a branch. It was thick, so most of the rain would flow off of it, instead of soaking in.

"We should turn in early, if it's going to be stormy," said Argen, standing and heading for the tent.

The next morning, it was pouring rain. They moved slowly in getting their things packed, hoping it would slow down some, but the storm seemed to have settled right on top of them. Even the horses were miserable as they sloshed through the mud heading further west.

Howling caused them to pause around noon, the rain still coming down hard, causing streams to swell and the path they were following to all but disappear in the flow of water.

"Are those wolves, or werewolves?" asked Guit.

Cherry shivered on the horse in front of Airow. He had brought his wings out to wrap around them to keep her warmer and dryer then she had been riding with Guit.

"They sounded like normal wolves, but they don't normally howl in the middle of the day, like this," said Argen.

"We need to keep moving, but have your weapons ready just in case!" said Grey, pulling out her sword and nudging her tired horse forward.

Half an hour later, the sounds of snarling and yelping could be heard, and in front of them, they spied a carriage, surrounded by wolves, with three men trying to fight them off with spears.

Pulling out his bow, Airow quickly took out five of the wolves, sending the rest running.

"Thank you!" cried one of the men, climbing down from the carriage. A face could be seen in the glass, peeking out from behind a curtain.

"You are welcome," said Grey, approaching them cautiously.

"We are trying to get to the town up ahead before dark, but our carriage became stuck in the mud. You wouldn't be willing to help us, would you?" asked the man.

From the appearance of their clothes, the three had already been trying to push the carriage out of the mud, but hadn't had much luck.

"We can try to attack some ropes to all of the horses, and pull it out," suggested Grey, taking in the situation.

"That would be great!"

Argen sighed as they all started to climb down from their horses. It took an hour of pulling from the horses, and pushing from everyone else, to get the carriage free of the mud. They were all covered in mud, cold, and tired.

"If you travel with us, I can guarantee a hot bath, and a good meal, on the house," said the man, as he climbed into the carriage.

"It would be greatly appreciated," said Grey, with a laugh.

Airow stayed quiet, as he wasn't covered in any mud. It seemed to have avoided him completely whenever it went flying through the air.