stared at them, closed his hand around them, then dropped one back into the vial.
If he really had to, he would take the second one. But not yet. He held the little white pill in front of his face.
Disgust and bitterness curled inside him as he tossed the pill into his mouth and swallowed. It felt absurd that he could be so relieved and so repulsed by something all at once.
Within minutes, he felt himself relax. The tight band of pressure around his chest evaporated and he could breathe deep again. His hands stopped shaking. In the east, the sky began to lighten. They’d made it through the night.
The sound of rustling was followed by the tarp shifting behind the driver’s seat. Tauran’s head appeared in the gap and he rested his arms over the backrest beside Kalai. He looked rested and considerably less distressed. “Morning.”
Kalai smiled at him. “Good morning. How is she?”
“Eager to stretch her legs.” Tauran rubbed through his hair. It was loose, tousled blond curls dangling over his brow. “Let’s find a sheltered spot and camp for breakfast. Some distance from the road, just to be safe.”
The terrain was flat, and moving the wagon off the road was easy so long as they took it slow. Kalai steered for a cluster of trees between two wheat fields and brought it to a halt in the shade.
“It’d be easier on the horses without the wagon,” Tauran said, rummaging through his bags for food and water. “A few more weeks and Leyra would have been flying on her own.”
“Not well enough to stay in the air for hours, though.” Kalai took the bread and cold cuts Tauran handed him - likely the last fresh food they would be eating for a while.
“Either way, we will have to ditch the wagon when we reach the marshes. We won’t have to worry about her getting spotted by people, I just hope she doesn’t get spotted by anything else, either.”
Kalai frowned, savoring the slices of ham as much as he could. “Do you think the stories are true? That the creatures in the bogs grow as large as dragons?” He finished his last piece, rinsed his hands with drinking water and moved to stand behind Tauran. Angling Tauran’s head back with a hand on his forehead, Kalai raked his fingers through Tauran’s hair in place of brushing it, untangling it gently, before drawing it into a small ponytail.
“Probably not titan size.” Tauran drew the band off his wrist and handed it to Kalai over his shoulder. “But large enough to be a threat, no doubt.”
“I’d rather not end up as some oversized eel’s breakfast, either,” Kalai mused, tying Tauran’s hair back. As far as he knew, no one had seen these supposed giant bog-dwelling creatures in hundreds of years. That, at least, was good news. He bent his head and kissed Tauran’s freckled forehead.
Tauran murmured a soft, “Thanks, love,” and rose, wincing when he put weight on his left leg.
Kalai blinked. Tauran said it so naturally, so effortlessly, but it filled Kalai’s stomach with butterflies like he was sixteen and had just been kissed for the first time. He smiled. So this was what it felt like to be in love.
Tauran moved to the wagon and tugged the tarp open at the back. Before he had even loosened all the ropes, Leyra burst from inside, landing on the grass with all four legs spread wide and wings held high. She froze, head twitching from side to side.
Tauran laughed. “Yeah, how about that, huh, girl? We aren’t in Valreus, anymore.”
Leyra spun in a circle and pressed her head against Tauran’s shoulder. Then, a song bird drew her attention, and she leaped a few feet in the direction it had flown. She sniffed the air, tip of her tail curling with delight. When she took a step sideways, she flinched and looked down, lifting one foot and then the other. She lowered her head, nibbled on blades of grass and sneezed.
“Oh dear,” Kalai said, with amusement. “Is this her first time on grass?”
“Wow. Yeah, I guess it is.”
At the sound of Kalai’s voice, Leyra cooed and bounded to him, rubbing her face all over the front of his jacket.
Kalai laughed and stroked her forehead. “I can’t believe how big she is. I remember when I could carry her around in my arms.”
“I know.” Tauran’s voice was full of tenderness. “She’s almost half Arrow’s size, already.”