Chapter 23

At some point, when the moon was high, I woke to see Xyon sitting close to a fire. What happened? My head hurts...I guess pushing myself too far will have darker consequences than I thought. "Are you feeling better now?" He didn't look my direction, but must have sensed a change in my breathing patterns or something. Impressive, but I'm in too much pain to care. "What was that? Is it that the reality of what we left behind caught up to you? That would be the most obvious answer...what else? Give me your tail."

"I don't know. I felt like I had to keep running and never stop. Ha…I didn't go very far in the end though, huh." With a sigh, I flicked my tail closer to him.

"Are you kidding me?" He leaned forward to grab my tail and use the end to poke at the coals.

"What are you doing?!"

"Every stick I use has caught fire. Now stay still." His grip tightened, and I gave up, letting him do whatever. "Zavi, you have taken us over ten miles away from that farm. I wasn't sure what to think or do, but then I noticed your breathing was ragged. That's dangerous. Never do it again. Ever." Are those tears in his eyes? "Please." I tilted my head and scooted a bit closer.

"Hmmm...so you were worried about me?" He didn't answer, only wiping at the tears. I must have made it quite clear I saw them. "I'm still worn out...I ache all over. But I can't sleep...can you help me?" His icy blue eyes flicked to me and he shrugged off the blanket that was on his shoulders, leaning back.

With a smile that seemed forced, he said, "Come here. You can put your head in my lap for a while." Interesting. What made him decide to go with that? While I know I'm somewhere between forty to fifty feet long, my head and paws aren't actually that big...it shouldn't hurt him to do what he asked. I mustered up the last of my strength to wiggle over and curl around Xyon, placing my head carefully in his lap. The top of my head measured a little higher than his chest, while my curved horns went a foot above his head. My snout is kind of hanging off the side of his lap too...is he sure about this?

"If this hurts, don't be afraid to wake me up or shove me off...I don't want to hurt you." He gave me a more genuine smile and placed his hands on my head.

"Don't worry, I will. Let me calm you down." Reaching into his little bag, he pulled out the flute he'd made and fixed. "Remember the song that made you sleepy? I'll be playing that one." The gentle notes practically forced my body to relax, my freed tail moving back and forth somewhere. I cooed contentedly and allowed myself to fall asleep once again that night.