"Up and at 'em," A light kick to Noble's stomach brought him back to the real world. He had been sleeping so good in between Raja's paws and his mane, just like that one night in the barn. Raja was such a good blanket, Noble didn't want to escape this grasp. Mylo persisted though, "Come on, hot shot, we're almost there."
"Who says?" Noble huffed out in a raspy voice. His voice was lower than usual, suddenly aware that he now had stubble on his face. What the hell? Noble cursed to himself, then realizing again the dragon's words. The closer you are to the source, the more powerful you become.
"I said," Lily lifted her younger brother's paw and with a struggle, she managed to pull Noble's heavyweight from under Raja, "Two hours run from here. I smell it, and Raja does too. I can hear water from a river not far, and it is sure to lead there."
"Whatever you say, mom," Noble sighed groggily, closing his eyes from the light entering the forest. Sam had enough with this and decided to march her little body over and slap him, which definitely got him to keep his eyes open.
"As the princess, I demand you to get your butt up, so we can finally have a bed to sleep in! My back hurts, Noby!" Sam, the lovely little princess, shouted. Noble complied and lifted himself with his arms to his feet. Raja decided to finally wake his own self up and turn into a human to help Noble up. Noble noticed that he was almost as tall as Raja now, maybe an inch or two off.
"Dear Luna, you're such a force of nature, aren't you Sammy?" Noble chuckled tiredly to himself and held his arms out to her. She happily accepted and wiggled in his tight grasp.
"Well, someone has to play princess until we get mommy back," Sam grinned mischievously.
"You don't have to play it when you're already one," Raja joined, surprising both Noble and Sam. Raja gathered the little princess in his arms before hugging her tightly, "I'm sorry about yesterday, so how about you ride with Noble, huh? On my back?"
"REALLY?!" Sam gasped loudly before squealing like an excited hog, "Can I, Noble? Can I? Can I?"
Noble turned his silver gaze over to the white lion, who was already staring back. He winked one of his cerulean orbs. Looks like Raja was playful this morning, Noble pointed out, breaking his serious facade for the few minutes. Raja's smile was certainly something that made the beast tamer's heart go crazy.
Noble chuckled before responding, "Only if it's okay with Raja to have two people on his back, then I have no problems with it."
"Just hold onto her tightly," Lily informed, "And make sure you don't lose Mr. Bear. She went ballistic once she realized that that bear was in the saddle pocket and not in her arms." Lily patted her brother's shoulder for a split second, gazing at him intensely until walking over to her own mount. She opened the saddle pocket to give Sam her stuffed bear.
Before Raja could quickly change back, Noble grabbed the lion's face and lightly brought his lips to his for a small, brief kiss. Raja's face grew red under Noble's fingers before he backed away with a small smirk of victory. Noble nodded before Raja could finally, with a little bit of trouble, turn back into his full glory.
"Alright, Lovebirds, let's get a move on." Mylo broke the silence while he slid onto his own unicorn named by the Princess herself. He guided it next to Raja's side where they were eager to start traveling for the day.
Noble lifted Sam onto Raja first as she giggled and tightly held into his silver mane. When he felt she was secure enough, then he pulled himself up without much of a hassle. He scooted his body up to his sister's before wrapping both of his arms around her, knowing full well that he wasn't going to break his balance whatsoever.
YOU ARE READING
The Great White Lion
Fantasy(LEO - Book 1) There was a boy with a red scarf in the village. Some would say he was weak. He wasn't the type to train with his teachers or maybe even hunt for food in the mountains. He was there with his mother, little sister, and his two bes...
