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40: Exhaustion

Blayre had never been so exhausted in her life. She realized with some amount of worry, that the exhaustion was affecting her ability to filter through different magic threads with her Sense. It was much like using a sifter with holes that were too large, and all the pieces of debris were mixing in with the sand.

She rubbed at her head, suppressing a yawn. Caval stopped beside her and rubbed her back gently. "You okay?" He asked quietly, eyebrows raised in concern.

"Not really... but I'll have to be." She replied with grim determination.

"What are we stopping for? How long is this going to take?" One of the mountain men demanded.

"Sorry." Blayre said, "Just getting my bearings." They had been descending the mountain for hours, with Blayre bending down every so often to read a print in the moist ground, or read a broken sapling. Once they got far enough away, she hoped that she could follow the magic that that egg was giving off.

They had retraced their steps back to the caverns and, while Caval likely thought that Blayre was making a show of physically tracking Bartley, for their new companions, the reality was that she actually needed to track him the old fashioned way. She couldn't tell

The shorter of the two men was helping her at least. His name was Khon and he had a much more pleasant demeanor than the quietly stern, Opocht, or the prickly female, Makaya

"I have a feeling that Bartley will make a stop in Mountainvale," Caval mused, as they walked. "The man has to rest at some point, and I suspect that the crystals that were being stored there might have been a check in for him," He turned to the three clans-people. "Do dragon eggs require the magic from the crystals to hatch?"

"Yes," said Makaya. "And it can take months - or it can take years." She closed her mouth and continued on walking, tight-lipped. And you knew you were incubating a dragon egg. How long would it take to hatch? Blayre wanted to press further, but a warning look from Caval made her stop reluctantly. If her knowledge-seeking friend was trying not to prod, then she shouldn't either.

Except that knowing if and when a dragon would be released upon the world was useful as more than just a way to satisfy a thirst for knowledge, and a need to satisfy curiosity.

"The sooner we track this mage down. The better for us all." Makaya said.

Blayre wasn't sure how long she had been walking, but at some point everything began to blur into nothing. She vaguely remembered someone smacking her hard on the back. Then she stumbled and fell to her knees, with too much trembling exhaustion seeping deep into her very soul, to know what was happening. Everything was a distant hum around her. A familiar male voice was yelling, and then hands were touching her, and a familiar feeling of magic was touching her, entering into her body and exiting. "It's useless," She mumbled, but wondered if she had even uttered the words aloud.

Someone was trying to heal and re-energize her, and was either ignorant to the fact that it would not result in success, or was just desperate enough to try anyway. She felt herself slipping into darkness, an occurrence that had happened a couple too many times in the past week, and though she tried so hard to hold on, she was so so so tired.

When Blayre awoke, she was swathed in warm blankets, and the faint scent of woodsmoke and cinnamon wafted into her nose. She felt someone beside her. She could feel their faint, regular breathing. They were sleeping, it seemed. She attempted to crack open her eyes, and found it more difficult than she had expected. A small moan escaped her dry cracked lips, and she swallowed. The blankets, which had at first felt comforting, now felt hot and smothering.

"Blayre?"

She had been writhing and trying to escape her trappings, but froze at the sound of the voice. It was deep and rich, and slightly lilting. A large hand rested on her shoulder. Sending strength and sensation through her that had nothing to do with magic.