God of Discovery [high fantasy, slow build, mlm]

Sky Mountain - part 9

D'Argen felt the light of the sun hit his face. He stopped walking and turned to it with closed eyes. It was not that warm, but the light was welcome. The shuffling in front of him slowed and then stopped. Thar did not say anything and just waited for him.

The two had been walking for two days and nights already. Each day, D'Argen stopped to feel the sun from between the trees. Sometimes, it was only for a moment like now. Yesterday, it had been for a solid hour at least.

"I'm tired," D'Argen groaned out and shifted. Abbot was sprawled across his back and the artist's weight was only making D'Argen complain more than usual.

Thar was carrying both Yaling and Lilian. D'Argen would have loved to have his sight back to see how exactly the man carried his other two companions. He could imagine one swung across each of his shoulders like sacks of potatoes, but he also knew that Thar was more considerate than that. Unfortunately, he could still see nothing but white blurs. In order to stop himself from getting confused, D'Argen had used one of the strips of cloth from under his bracers and wrapped it over his eyes.

"Are were there yet?" D'Argen groaned when Thar said nothing about his earlier complaint.

"Soon."

"How do you know?"

"The air is getting thinner."

"Isn't that... bad?"

Thar did not respond.

"You know, now that I can't see you, I can't tell what face you're making, and you'll have to talk to me."

Thar harrumphed in response, but when he spoke, it sounded like he had a smile on his face, "Do I now?"

"Oh, shut up," D'Argen groaned with a smile of his own.

"How are your eyes?"

D'Argen reached with a thumb and lifted the edge of his makeshift blindfold. It was bright. And blurry. He dropped it.

"No good," he said to confirm even though Thar must have come to the same conclusion. Having working eyes and all.

"And you? How are you?"

"Tired. I already said so. In fact... can we take a break?"

Thar hummed. D'Argen had no idea if that was in agreement or not. He waited.

"I think night will fall again soon."

D'Argen stiffened and nodded. Thar was obviously tired as well, his mahee barely sliding around for D'Argen to touch it. The previous night, he had used too much to keep them all safe as the demons returned. D'Argen was only getting in the way so he had stayed back to protect their still unconscious companions. When Thar told him to run, he grabbed Abbot and did not stop.

"You better be getting better soon. I can't keep going like this for much longer," D'Argen said. He shifted, adjusted Abbot on his back, groaned, and then started walking again. With his mahee so depleted, D'Argen could not use it to help strengthen his body and remove the fatigue from his muscles. Instead, he used every single strain of it to keep his feet steady so he would not trip or slip.

The incline started getting steeper. D'Argen felt his mahee churn to try and compensate for every step.

"Wait," Thar suddenly said and D'Argen froze mid-step. Abbot's weight on his back threw him a bit off balance but he compensated with his mahee. "Nevermind, go on."

"What was it?" D'Argen asked quietly.

"I thought I heard something."

"Which reminds me. We haven't heard any of the screams all day today."