Malion: Royal Blood

Fears and Sanity

As we made our way over the dry terrain, I tried to keep my vision focused. It was warm out. Michelle's exasperated sigh caught my attention.

"It's so hooot!" She groaned and I watched her drag a golden lock away from her sweating cheek.

"It's kinda warm, but it's not too bad." Kaylum chimed in only to get a bewhildered stare from her.

"He's right. It's not that bad. It's nice and warm." I told her, recieving the same glare.

"Michelle, I agree with you." Selvan growled, keeping his gaze on the path ahead of us. Hero didn't give us any of his input.

"An Aslantian noon is torture. The Berow region has always been a dry place. We need to be greatful that we aren't in the Ramir region though. It's practically The Beneath over there." He muttered.

"You guys have no idea what heat is." Kaylum laughed, "I'm from The Beneath. We bathe in lava." Selvan looked at Kaylum with wide eyes.

"You what? I can barely enter that place without becoming a braised hogbelly in under three minutes!!" He objected. Kaylum laughed loudly, it was the first time I'd heard him laugh so genuinely. I grinned at him.

"Hey Dec, you think if we find a surface pool we could have a dip?" He asked. I was taken aback for a moment.

"Wait, I'm not resistant to lava! I just like warm weather more than colder weather." I told him.

"Well you're certainly more resistant to cold than I am. I stiffen up almost completely in winter, which is why... I uhh.. I.. hate the cold." He mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows thoughtfully as he looked away. I watched as he sunk into his own thoughts with a sad frown. I shuddered as I remembered that icy day... I placed my hand on his shoulder and met his gaze.

"It's ok. I understand. Listen up, if we find a surface pool, I'll see. By the way, can your fire actually burn me?" I asked. His eyes lit up at the mention of his power.

"It shouldn't burn you per say, but it would burn normal Aslantians." He explained. I raised an eyebrow.

"Bet." I said with a smirk.

"Alright cool. There's a greener clearing over there. I don't want to burn anything down, so we should take a rest over there." He said.

"I think you're a bit late on not wanting to see places burn." Herross muttered. His phrasing gained a frown from Kaylum. Herross, pointed to a large group of trees only a few hundred meters away. Smoke rose above their crowns.

"Should we put it out?" Kaylum piped up quickly. Herross only gave him a nod. I noticed as I passdd him, that his eyes were glowing a lot more dimly than usual. Selvan didn't seem to notice and I wasn't about to point it out to him. We rode towards the trees and dismounted our horses before the trees. As we headed forward, we discovered that it was meerely a campsite with large tents pitched in a circle around a seismic bonfire.

"Oh thank Norvek. I was worried for a moment." Kaylum sighed.

"Norvek is everyone's default, huh?" Selvan spat. Michelle shushed him. Kaylum continued quietly.

"Look, he's the God of Protection and Joy. I wanted to thank him for protecting the trees from harm." He defended, "I'll thank you when I make a vial of Ventell wine successfully." He muttered, recieving a gasp from Selv.

"Ventell wine may be difficult to make, but there is no need to put my power down so much!" He whispered, outraged as he crossed his arms and pointedly looked away.

"Huh...? Herross? Are you alright?" Selv quickly asked, turning to his brother, standing alone still under the trees we had come through. His eyes were dimmer than before but lit up again as he was quietly called.