The Gentle Giant

Book Two ~ Chapter One

Jӕger swooped in the sky ahead of Muriel and Emir, leading them closer and closer to Lucio. With every step the horses took, the tundra and Kahmgalai's hut slowly faded behind them. The scenery slowly gave way from sweeping fields to forest. Ice crackled under the horses' hooves as they walked. "Something feels different here..." thought Emir, "It smells like iron.. weird iron.." Muriel felt the change as well. His brow furrowed deeper with every passing minute. Still, they kept on. It was near midday when they decided to take a break, settling near a frozen pond. Emir wrapped his coat tighter around himself to keep out the cold, settling down on a nearby log. Inanna hopped happily around in the snow, chomping at the ice crystals and snorting.

"We're almost done," Muriel said as he dropped down to sit beside Emir. A familiar brooding look was back in his gaze.

Emir groaned and leaned against Muriel, trying to find some more warmth, "I can't wait to take a nap!"

Muriel looked at Emir, slightly startled, then laughed a little, "Yeah... that sounds nice. A week in the hut just napping." His smile slowly slipped from his face, "Where.. are you going to go after we're done..?"

Emir hummed lightly in thought, then sighed lightly, "I think I'm done with traveling for a long while after this trip. I think I'll just stay in Vesuvia. At Asra's place maybe."

"Oh," Muriel trailed off into silence, staring out at the frozen lake. It took him another minute for him to speak again, "This is the last time we'll spend together..."

Emir smiled warmly, "Muriel... I'm not going to suddenly ignore you when we get back to Vesuvia."

Muriel blushed lightly, "You won't..?"

Emir laughed lightly, "Of course not! You're stuck with me, big man! You and Asra don't live that far away from each other anyway. And besides," Emir leaned up closer to Muriel's face, mischief coating his words, "We still need to have a first date~"

Muriel's cheeks turned bright red. He nearly choked on his own words, "F-first d-!?" He spluttered and hid his face in the fur of his cloak.

Emir faked a pout, "Aw, you don't want to?"

"I... S-sure. We can... go on a d-d-" Muriel coughed some more, not even able to say the word.

"He's too cute," Emir thought with a small chuckle before taking some pity on Muriel and dropping the subject. Eventually, the two got to their feet and headed out again. It was hard to keep track of where they'd been in the forest. It all looked the same. However, Jӕger seemed to know exactly where he was going, never losing the trail. Day gave way to night, and still, Jӕger kept flying, but it was too dark to see him anymore.

"Almost as bad as Morga," groaned Muriel. Emir nodded tiredly as the two hurried forward, trying to keep the bird in their line of sight. When they saw him again, Jӕger was perched on a rocky outcrop, right above the entrance to a cave. He ruffled his feathers and stared expectantly at the men.

"Should we camp here tonight..?" Emir asked.

"Better than wandering the forest," said Muriel, "I'll build a fire." Emir gave Jӕger a nod of thanks as he and Muriel passed under him and into the cave. Thankfully, the snow hadn't reached far into the cave. Inanna trotted right in and started exploring, wagging her tail. She soon walked back to the two, giving them a bark. "She says there are no other animals in here," Muriel explained before setting out to build a fire at the edge of the cave. Emir helped him out with a well-placed spell. Soon, they had settled around the warmth. Outside, snow had started to fall in lazy swirls. "Hope there's no storm brewing..." Muriel mumbled tiredly. Emir gave a small nod, his gaze falling back to the fire. Now that they were settled for the night, his thoughts started to swirl again. Everything that had happened the past few days clamored around in his head. He flinched as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Muriel's eyes were filled with worry, "Are you okay..?"