A court of Night and Fire

Sleeping arrangements are interesting

Nyx POV

We've been travelling all the way through the day and the night, alternating between running and walking. When we finally reach the rendezvous point, there's no one there. I refuse to accept the possibility. The rendezvous point is a small clearing next to a lake in the forest. I don't want to stay here for too long when we're vulnerable to the creatures that roam the forest at night. We've been listening to echoing screams throughout the whole journey. 

Something drops from the tree and I whirl around, freezing when I see what crouches before me. I slowly reach out, trying not to make any sudden movements and tap Ash's shoulder to get his attention. He turns to me and notices my stiff posture, he also stiffens when he catches sight of the creature before us. It crouches there, ready to pounce, snarling at us. I shift into a fighting stance, looking around for anything to use as a weapon.

The creature coils back like a snake preparing to strike. Just as it goes to pounce, a shadow drops onto it's neck. The creature roars, shudders and falls to the ground. I walk over cautiously. Dusting herself off and standing up, Asterin grins at me. "sorry I'm late, I got a bit caught up" she says. Ash says nothing. He simply walks forward and hugs her tightly. She laughs "yeah, yeah, I missed you too you overgrown bat" Ash doesn't let go of her so she pries him off and walks over to me, Ash following closely. Asterin hugs me and I hug her back. I missed her scent. She smelled of pine, snow and fire.

"Right then, let's win this thing" she says, grinning at the two of us. I glance over to the creature now lying dead on the floor. There's a shard of bone rammed just below it's skull. Asterin follows my gaze "we better get moving before it's buddies start seeking revenge" she says and we move out, together at last. As we move into the moonlight, I can see that Asterin is covered in blood. Ash notices too and immediately his eyes widen and he growls as he realises that some of it is her own. I am very tempted to do so as well. Asterin rolls her eyes as we break into a brisk walk, following the plain towards the mountains. "I got caught up with a group of males from another camp who liked the idea of some 'female company'" she laughs at our furious expressions "relax you territorial fae bastards, their all knocked out cold. They'll be waking up any minute now with a record breaking headache and some very sensitive and very bruised male parts, providing they're not dead already"

Together, we make our way towards the mountains. We planned out a route that took us around the side of the woods to side of the mountain opposite the route known as the breaking. It might take longer, but it was infinitely better than risking the forests with those damn creatures waiting to eat us. We travel through the night and the rest of the morning, stopping somewhere to eat some game we collected from some of the bodies inside the forest. Our plan was to sleep during the afternoon. Weird as it sounds, it is logical. Sleeping at night was dangerous due to the animals that roamed out here and it made more sense to travel at that time, when most of the Illyrians were most likely sleeping. The morning was the time we were most likely to be found, so it was also rather dangerous. We also want to optimise the time we spend moving. 

We find a secure clearing in the forest, and lie next to each other. Despite the afternoon sun, the forest is rather dark. Asterin is lying in the middle between me and Ash, already falling asleep. I look to Ash who watching Asterin and scanning our surroundings. When he's satisfied nothing is about to attack us and Asterin is safely asleep, he relaxes. I fall asleep quickly, the constant travelling has left me exhausted.

Asterin POV

When I wake up, it's dusk. It takes me a moment to realise where I am. Then my surroundings register and I open my eyes. Somehow whilst we were sleeping we all changed positions. Nyx's chest is pressed to my back, an arm draped over my stomach. Ash is pressed to my front, his arm draped above Nyx's. They're both asleep, so I close my eyes and I allow myself a small moment of content. Despite my common sense screaming in my head, I could've stayed like this forever. It just felt right. I opened my eyes to find hazel ones staring back at me. Ash hasn't made to move away, remaining where he is, an arm still draped over me. "evening princess" whispers a voice in my ear from behind me. Nyx. His breath tickles my neck. 

I shift to try and get up, but two sets of strong arms hold me still. "this is lovely and all that but in case you've forgotten we have a blood rite to win?" I say and Ash groans "do we really have to? We could just stay here and wait it out" he says "I know some interesting ways to pass the time" Nyx says mischievously. I roll my eyes "like I said, win the blood rite, and then I'll think about it" They both sigh dramatically and reluctantly get up. Sleeping in fighting leathers is not particularly comfortable, but we don't really have a choice. 

We travel all through the night and the morning, stopping to sleep once more. Somehow, the two of them managed to end up in similar positions to last time, much to their amusement. We don't see many Illyrians, just a few stragglers that are easy enough to avoid. The others are all making their way through the forest. Finally, we reach the bottom slopes of Ramiel just as dawn was breaking.