against my neck.
The grin that stretches Grimsal’s mouth is only a shadow of his usual self, but it is there as he drops down to our side to poke my mate’s leg with one thick finger.
“Nah, you’re just happy to be able to climb down from there,” he jests, eliciting a snort of amusement from Steph.
She doesn’t disagree, however, as she swings her leg over my back and slowly drops to the ground. Giving my side a pat, she takes a few steps forward before stopping to do a series of stretches that she’d begun after the second day of riding to relieve any tightness in her muscles. I know I’m still going to have to rub her down tonight since this ride was considerably longer and a lot more strenuous than before. My mate will be sore enough tonight. I don’t want to take any chance of her waking tomorrow in agony again.
My own limbs shaking with exhaustion, I drop my fetch form. The pop of muscles and bones realigning is almost a relief. That relief is in direct opposition to everything else in me which nervously cries out against making us more vulnerable. But I have little choice if I want to keep moving. For now, my fetch form is spent.
“It’s so damned dark,” she observes uneasily, gripping her hands tightly together.
I reach down and tug on her clasped hands, pulling the one nearest to me free so that I can clasp it in mine. I give it a comforting squeeze as she stares down the path to where it disappears into the depths of the forest completely. She glances up at me, the worry stark on her face as she eyes me questioningly. I smooth my palm against her cheek and smile down at her.
“It will be fine,” I reassure her as I project just enough magic through my horn that it glows like a lamp.
She smiles a little at that, the tension in her shoulders easing, and she gives me a small nod.
“Okay, I trust you,” she replies, and those three little words make my heart gallop even as a broad smile stretches over my lips.
Providing just enough to light to see by, I walk down into the mouth of the forest, leading Steph down behind me. She clenches my hand as she looks around, but keeps up as if not wishing to risk even the slightest possibility of being separated from me.
“What lives down here?” she asks after a moment.
I glance over at Grimsal, since he seems to know more about this area than I do, but his face tightens with reluctance.
“Grimsal?” I prompt impatiently.
He rubs at the back of his neck with one hand and shrugs.
“Hard to say. There are some rumors. There’s a sort of nocturnal pixie that shuns the sun or any bright light, visible due to the faint, sickly green light they give off. They are more of a nuisance because the females tend to bite, feeding on blood whenever they get the opportunity to sustain themselves during breeding season.” His nose wrinkles with distaste. “I don’t think it’s come around just yet, so we should be safe enough on that end.”
“So much for no mosquitos,” my mate mutters as she glances around warily. “If we’re safe enough on that end, then what end do we still have to worry about?”
“Well, there’s the small problem that if they should they take a disliking to you they have a habit of making mischief, making people fall asleep for indeterminant amounts of time or bringing about boils and other illnesses,” he adds. “But the bright side is that Eliph glowing like a lantern is bound to keep them away… Maybe.”
“Fucking awesome,” Steph replies sourly.
“Then there are of course the demi-hogwals, a boar-like hobgoblin that’s particularly vicious, but that’s not the worst of it.”
My ears prick at that and I turn a suspicious look toward him.
“What is the worst of it?” I growl out.
“Fairies,” he admits in a small voice. I nearly explode as I round on him, but he holds up a hand in attempt to ward off my anger. “No, listen. I know what you’re going to say, but I’m not even sure if these are from the same hill, and they don’t live here. It’s just known that fairy bands—many different ones at that—use the forest outside of the Lorandral kingdom to cut through neighboring territories when they travel. It’s unlikely we will see even one fairy, much less a whole