your help to find our friend. The sooner we get him, the sooner we get out of this foggy mess. All I need you to do is fly around a bit. Use your little purple glow to guide yourself."
"How will she find us again?" Tressa asked, worried. She knew it was a good plan, but she didn't want Nerak giving up her life for them either. If she got lost, or never found her way back, Tressa wouldn't forgive herself. It felt like sending a child out to do an adult's job. "Could you fly away and come back to us?"
Nerak tilted her head to the other side. See. Fly. Find. And after a pause, Afraid.
"I know," Tressa cooed, "we're afraid too. You don't have to do this. It's not your battle."
The owl's eyes snapped open even wider, taking up the bulk of her snowy face. War. Coming. Save.
Her wings flitted out and Nerak took off in flight, leaving Tressa and Bastian hidden in the fog again. Tressa ran her hands around her waist, looking for the vine that connected her and Bastian. Hand over hand, she inched closer to him, not wanting to feel so alone in the enveloping mist. Her hand touched his waist and she left it there for only a moment until she slipped her hand into his.
"She'll come back, won't she?" Uncertainty laced Bastian’s words.
Tressa smiled a little, knowing he wouldn't be able to see her. A man of action was giving over control to a tiny bird he'd just met. If the situation weren't so dire, Tressa would have laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of it all. "I want to believe she will." She held back the words Nerak had whispered in her mind. War. As if they didn't have enough problems already.
"We should try to get some sleep while she's gone. In this damn fog I can't even tell what time of day it is." He scooted a little closer to her, shoving a piece of fabric in her hand. "It's my extra shirt. You can put it under your head so it's not on the ground."
Tressa held it up to her nose, inhaling Bastian's scent. Memories flooded her mind and her body, reminding her of the short time they'd had together. She didn't think he knew, but on their last day together, she'd stolen one of his shirts and kept it hidden in her cottage. She never washed it and on days when she would need consoling, she would hold it to her face and remember what it felt like to be his. To be safe. To be loved.
Tressa shoved it back at him, unable to let those memories overwhelm her. "I brought my own stuff. It's okay. You use it." She slipped her hand into her pack, pulling out a wadded up cloak. It worked just as well as a blanket, with the hood serving as a pillow.
Tressa lay down on the ground, wrapping the scratchy wool around her body and plumping up the hood for a makeshift pillow. She stretched out, flexing her toes to give her calves a little stretch before falling asleep. They'd done a lot of walking, far more than she was used to, and she didn't want to wake up sore.
Bastian lay next to her, not touching, but she could feel and hear him breathing. The vine connecting them gave them feet of slack, but he didn't move away from her.
Tressa was glad. She wanted him close. The fog was too disconcerting, too frightening, and she wanted to wake up with Bastian within arm's reach. Exhaustion overtook her fast, sending her off into a sleep filled with nightmares.
Chapter Seventeen
Awaken. Find. Hurry.
Tressa's eyes snapped open. The world came aglow in a violet haze as Nerak sat on her shoulder. She reached out for Bastian, and was surprised to find he was holding her hand, their fingers laced together. She slipped hers out before shaking him lightly on the shoulder.
"Bastian, wake up. Nerak found Connor."
He sprang to his feet, as if he'd been ready for an attack, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Pack up. Let's get moving."
Nerak bobbed her head in agreement.
Wiggling out of her cloak, Tressa got all of her things together, shoved them in her pack, and stood up. "Is he close?"
Nerak bobbed her head again.
"Have we been asleep long?" she asked the little owl.
Nerak's head spun around, until her eyes were upside down.
"I'm not sure she understands that question," Bastian said,