26 Chapter 26

I groaned in agony, my waist and chest in pain. "You had a few broken bones. I used a minor healing spell I know, so it isn't very good...but does it feel better?" She examined me carefully, the sun glinting off her scales. It's already day?!

"Where's Xyon?!" I made an attempt to get up and she shoved me back down with a warning hiss.

"You can't get up! That flight was way more than you should've done last night in the first place! Don't make it worse!" Unable to fight back due to weakness, I gave up and settled for looking around. "He came back earlier and was upset when he saw you. I think he thought I did something because he started to turn on me, but then the tiny demon girl made him stop and listen to me. She's a brave tiny thing!"

"Do you know where they are right now?" Minca was able to stop him?

"I don't know. Maybe they're over by the stream or in town. You were trying to tell me something last night. What was it?" She's been keeping her voice lowered...aware that too much noise might hurt my head?

"Uh, can you carry Minca for me? The demon girl? Along with the bags and everything?"

"Sure! You're not strong enough to do it anyway!" I have to wonder how far her helpfulness actually goes. There has to be a stopping point, right? "It sounds like it'd be so much fun!" Slower this time, I pushed myself up, counting on her excitement for her to forget I was supposed to be resting. "Oh! Here, let me help you up!" Success. She supported my weight so I could get to my feet. "So when are we leaving?"

"Uh, how about when I can fly while carrying Xyon. I want to know where he is, exactly where."

"Then I guess we'll have to wait for them to come back!" She kept me up rather than choose to go find Xyon for me.

"You could just go find him too." I sighed when she shook her head at me but didn't say anything. She could at least put her refusal into words. "You know what, go look for him and I'll lay down. Deal?"

"Oh! Yeah, that'll work!" She took off immediately. One moment she refuses, the next she moves as quickly as possible...I can't understand her. Even though part of me had planned to move around anyway, I found it nearly impossible to move without help. Now what? The fact that I didn't collapse when I lost her support is a bonus though, right? Either way, I'm not just going to lay here and behave. Running healing magic throughout my body, I managed to bring instant relief. She never told me what was broken, but I can kinda guess from how much it aches. There's no time to rest. I feel like we have to move quickly or something will catch up. "Zavi!" Petra landed lightly, the force of the gale she brought making me sway. "Found them!" She set both Minca and Xyon in front of me with a silly grin. At least she didn't notice my part of the deal wasn't upheld.

"What did you think you were doing?!" Xyon immediately smacked me and started berating me. "You can't do things like that!"

"I--"

"No! There's no excuse for that!" Is he crying? It's a bit hard to tell, seeing as he's hanging his head.

"I'm sorry." Those were the only words I could find at that moment, confused by the multitude of emotions I felt coming from him.

Petra made a clicking sound. "Sorry to interrupt, but if I'm tagging along, then staying in one place isn't a good idea. And the human boy is right. If he can fight, or even if he can't, you should at least let him try." It's clear from her size that she's older than me, but this is the first adult-like thing she's said. "Now then! Little demon girl, are you ready to get going?" Of course her true personality will resurface so strongly. Xyon was silent as Petra placed him on my back, keeping his gaze cast down. His weight made me tense, but it wasn't enough of a problem to worry over. Now let's see...she must be in her twenties or going into her thirties, judging from how much bigger she is. "Let's go!" She took off, grabbing me to give me a boost as she did. I flared my wings to catch the breeze, trying to glide as much as possible. "We should go faster. How fast can you fly right now?"

"We'll see." I picked up the pace, stopping when it started to strain. This is a reasonable speed. "Ah...Petra? What was that stuff you used on the monster?"

"That? It was Acid!" Even the way she flies is playful. And since when were those bags tied onto her spikes? "What about you?" She matched me so that talking became easier. "That fire was very pretty!"

"It was only fire."

"Really? Alright, well our path is this way." She jerked to the side and started going for it directly. Many protests came to mind, but I pushed them back and followed, too tired to argue at the moment. I can't really remember our planned path anyway. Minca keeps looking back at me...is something wrong? A sudden gust occupied my thoughts, almost throwing me out of the sky. "We have to keep going." I simply nodded, moving a bit higher despite how much it made my muscles scream. Healing magic was once again circulated, easing it, but unable to fix it. I wasn't imagining it. My healing spells specifically got weaker. "Zavi!" I snapped out of it and realized I had been falling. Seriously?! If I don't focus, I'll fall?! Petra flew circles around me, then continued on. My mind is so lost. I must be more injured than I thought. Feeling magic behind me, I glanced back to see Xyon testing his magic again. It shocked me when he successfully covered the entire surface of his skin with black scales. His weight hadn't changed, as he still had a human form, but it was still surprising.

"I'll prove I'm not useless." His eyes glinted determinedly as he messed with it more. "If you really feel that I'm too weak to fight alongside you, then I'll just have to become stronger." He stood up and jumped off, turning into a hawk and going where he wouldn't see me anymore. Did that really upset him so much? As I watched, he went from one form to another in quick succession, a few times attempting a dragon form, but never completing it. Should I stop him? No, there's a chance he truly wants to be left alone. The rest of the day was full of flying without even a single second of rest. Petra had been showing me breezes that could carry me, but Xyon hadn't said a single word to me since leaving me.

"How much farther?" It hurts so much...I forced my wings to move, going higher.

She looked at me with a smile. "Not much. We're almost there." Are we? I looked down and flinched when I realized it was all ashland and fields, not a single tree in sight. So there are places without forests. Never mind that, how did we get here so quickly?! She went over me and reached down, grabbing a few of my spikes gently. "Don't fall! Look, over there!" I traced her gaze over to a city with fortified walls, sporting spires so tall, they seemed to pierce the sky. I heard a gasp from Petra's back. When I looked, Minca was watching the city with joy. Petra took me down to land, still flicking her wings happily as she did. When my paws finally touched the ground, I lay down immediately, rubbing my face against the dirt. "I'll be right back!" She took all the bags off and smiled at Minca. "I have some friends here that would love to take care of her!" As I watched her leave, Xyon set down too, bent over with his hands on his knees. He went a bit overboard...hold on. Didn't Petra say she was lost? How did she suddenly know where to go? I hope it was through a conversation with Xyon and not something else.

"Alright, now I need to let my mana replenish." He looked over at me. "By the way, Zavi, didn't you have a magic gemstone thing?"

"Do you mean this?" I set it on the ground between us.

"Yeah. where are you even carrying it?"

"Not sure I can explain that." When will I get a chance to nap?

"Try anyway."

I sighed, giving in easily. "All I have to do is make it match mana frequencies with me, then it can be absorbed into my scales and appear at will. Kinda like those spacial magic things from the stuff I liked so much…"

"Spacial…? No, nevermind. How you managed to do that is a mystery to me, though." I locked eyes with him, then touched the stone, giving him an example. The scale touching it and the stone started vibrating, and when they matched, it was 'sucked' into my scale, vanishing. "Neat! So, when are you going to teach me?"

"Weren't you mad at me?"

"Yeah." He kept looking at me expectantly despite his nonchalant attitude.

I chose to stare at the dirt around my paws. "I don't know how to teach it to others. I'm just...able to." Before he could respond, Petra appeared out of nowhere with a powerful blast of wind.

"Uh, turns out those guys didn't want her! So, uh, we should go to my other friends!"

"Tell us what happened first, at least…!" Xyon started scolding her as she placed him on my back, but the urgency in her actions was too startling for me.

"The town has a new ruler and he just so happens to despise me...we'll be going a bit further, where we're meeting Kathgar. There is a guild there that's always open to newcomers." She gathered the bags, watching me struggling to take off with a frown. "Perhaps you should just run. We have to get to the Forest of Ashliif if we want to be safe." I'll question her later, but it would seem that this moment isn't a very good time for it. She landed, using her wing to help keep me up as we both ran. Minca had her face buried, Xyon was glaring at Petra, and I was awfully confused and in pain. As we moved, I decided to practice my healing magic, working its quality back up. Well, for someone with several broken bones and bruises I'm doing fairly well. "It isn't far, but…"

"We're not going fast enough?" Xyon had twisted around to look at the city. "If possible, I recommend picking up the pace." You think that much wasn't obvious? I can feel the tremors of movement through the earth and sense the mana of other living beings coming closer.

"Yes, yes." Petra growled in frustration, glancing back every now and then.

"Can either of you supply me with mana? I should be able to catapult us the rest of the way." I know I'm too busy using magic to stay on my paws at the moment...so I can't.

"Alright. Touch my wing." He did so, and after a minute or so, he pulled away and started forming his magic, black strings forming together into a net. Its shape reminded me of a slingshot almost instantly. When he finished, he made a sudden movement with his arms, flinging us forward with frightening power. Petra and I only flared our wings when we started to fall towards a dead-looking forest that had trees with grey and black leaves. "Wow! So cool! You sent us right to it in an instant!" Her usual excitement returned, making her dance a bit as she went to land. "They won't follow us inside, so no worries! Right then, take a break and we'll head that way!" She motioned the direction, but it was hard to tell which way that was. "There's a stream that way as well, Zavi, so you should get some water." I watched which way she nodded her head, forcing myself to stand properly. Xyon slid off, taking some of the extra weight with him. I'll do just that. Without paying much attention, I simply wandered off in the stream's vague area, starting to lose focus a bit. With a suddenness that made me shudder, I had stepped into the warm water. Seeing this, I smiled and lay down, opening my wings to let them soak in the relaxing warmth.

"Much better…" The aching was soothed, calming down enough that my mind was clearing back up. We have been trying to flee from our attackers in the north this whole time, and yet they haven't come for us even once. If they have no intention of following after us, perhaps focusing on getting stronger would be wiser than constantly moving. Huh? My scales vibrated as the magic gemstone changed frequency, falling to the dirt beside me. I stared at it, then went to grab it. When I did, I found that it had become soft, similar to what the other half had done. Once again, the urge to eat it washed over me, so I bit it carefully, curious about it. This one had an unusual taste, but I went ahead and swallowed it anyway. A chill was sent through me and I shivered, the sensation of icy magic seeming strange. Now, a thought--or something closer to an idea or formula started to build itself up. The process was painfully slow and didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. It was almost as if something was being downloaded directly into my mind. Exhausted, I put my head down and closed my eyes, drifting to sleep.