Blue

On The Road Again

They were almost a week into the journey, meaning there was one more week until they reached the border, and the conflict.

Atlas needed to shift again. His inner beast was too on edge and nothing was satisfying it other than shifting and hunting. Talon had been oddly quiet for this journey. Something he was not used to. He would make comments here and there, but it was like they had just met. Where was the mouthy boy who wasn't afraid to tell anyone how he really felt.

His mate hadn't been far from his mind. She had a fire in her soul and he still had yet to know her true name. Tula was not it and Mykel didn't know her by any other name.  Mykel had sent a letter to her home for Atlas but nothing had come in response.

He shouldn't have expected a response but his hopeful nature was getting the better of him.

He wanted to get to the bottom of Talon's strange behavior. Having led the group all day he decided to pull Ronan back to the end of their group where Talon rode, on Iris, a wiley female horse.

"You're acting strange, moreso than usual," he candidly said.

"Just stressed is all. I'm not ready to return home, I don't want to be recognized, hell would break loose," Talon replied. Atlas had to hold back a response and remember that this boy had been abused by those closest to him. They were not the same. Where he had grown up in a loving way, Talon had not.

"If you are in my presence, I have no doubt that you'll be left alone and if not come to me and I'll have whatever situation may arise delt with," he told Talon. The boy turned several shades of red before nodding.

That was one thing Atlas noticed, he was easily embarrassed...and an anxious person. Atlas wondered if that was because of his upbringing. He still didn't know that much about Talon, other than he was damn good with the axe, observant of so much, always knew what to say and when to say it and that he was not a people person.

Atlas had not realized that Talon and Mykel were from the same city, Talon had neglected before to say where he was from and Atlas had given it no thought after Talon hadn't said. He realized that the tension on their first journey together could have been from Mykel's presence. The boy had to have been worried about Mykel knowing him.

Things were making more sense now.

Tonight was the last night they'd stop on the road before arriving in Idris and Atlas wanted to shift one more time, he had no desire to shift while in the city.

He was the only one to shift tonight.

He hadn't missed the awe on Talon's face the first night they all shifted forms. And Atlas could only imagine the thoughts going through his head at the sight.

Once the horses were taken care of and a fire was going, Atlas took his leave.

Lately his shifts had been more painful and he didn't know why. He felt every break and every pop in his body, it was so like his first shift from when he was a boy.

Once shifted. They ruffled their wings as they shook their head, adjusting to the vision of the dragon.

A deep ache had set in their chest, a longing for their mate that had run and continued to run. They needed this night to themselves and had no intention of returning until morning time. They took to the sky, vaulting from the ground beneath in a mighty sweep of their wings.

They wished their mate could see them in this form, truly see them. The nature of the beast wished his human nature had made more of an attempt at finding their mate.  But they had an understanding  that she was out there somewhere and would come home soon, they had bigger problems to solve in the immediate future.

They flew until first light illuminated their scales. They spent time skimming over trees and took a dive into the river.

During the night they hunted a deer, the human side repulsed by the animal side, but they had to live in tandem. There was nothing more satisfying for the beast than sinking their teeth into fresh flesh.

Once back into human form, Atlas had to pick hair from his teeth. It wasn't a usual occurrence for him, but sometimes small bones would get stuck as well. He hated that part about shifting.

He realized he would get no sleep until tonight, part of him wanted to be mad about that, but his inner beast had been feeling far too pent up for him to not spend the night in scaled form.

Talon was awake when he returned to the camp. Did he ever sleep. The thought ran through his head. Lately the boy had been up at early hours and it never seemed like he slept. The dark circles proved Atlas' theory, but he knew there was an underlying anxiety lurking in Talon.

He eyed the rest of his companions. Ander and Mykel were asleep next to each other, and Raylen and Latimer they were asleep on opposite ends of the fire.

"Wake up! We need to get going, we are expected by the end of the day!" They all awoke with a start. He earned several glares by his interruption of sleep.

By the time the sun had risen to its peak, they were on the road again.

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100% did not mean to publish this chapter when I did, it was still a work in progress and the name of the chapter changed because I needed to split it up into two sections so I could get something published for y'all.