Salvation [manxman]

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

We had eventually reached the river and had now been following it for three days. Nemesis was still holding onto the bug, Hypnos was still annoying everyone and Lucifer was still close to peeing his pants if he saw Erebus and I doing something that could be considered couplelike. Not that we were doing anything like this except for sleeping next to each other and holding hands once in a while but it still managed to get his panties in a twist.

I sighed heavily, poking Erebus' arms that were wrapped around me tightly to get him to release me. He just grunted and tightened his grip on me, nuzzling the back of my head but I kept poking and pinching his arms until he whined and let go off me. I turned onto my back, stretching and yawning while he blinked at me sleepily, strands of hair sticking randomly into the air.

"Good morning." He murmured huskily.

I had come to love waking up to him over the past days, holding me close to him and quietly snorring into my ear. In the beginning it had freaked me out but now I just smiled, knowing that I could build a pillow and blanket barrier between us and he still ended up clinging to me. I liked knowing that he was going to start the day off with me and was still going to be there at the end of it to kiss me goodnight.

"Good morning." I repeated, smiling up at him.

"Why are you always up this early?" Erebus yawned before dropping a paw on my head and ruffling my hair.  

Everyone else was still asleep and Solas and Ornias had managed to snuggle up close to each other with Ornias' wings covering Solas like a soft, feathery blankets. I giggled and nudged Erebus' side to draw his attention towards them, making him snort. The angels didn't even eat their meals together and sleeping together like this wasn't going to be accepted within their group. I found their lack of expressing feelings towards each other disturbing.

"They won't be very happy when they wake up." Erebus chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and got up to make breakfast for the Greek soldiers with the limited supplies we had still left. They all woke up sooner or later except for Hypnos who just kept sleeping soundly through the entire thing until Eris kicked him in the head and he flinched awake with a loud squeak. Solas and Ornias gave it their best to stay as far away from each other as they could, awkwardly side glancing at each other after they had woken up, now trying to act normal and not make a scene out of it.

We left soon after and continued to march along the river and by marching I meant everyone had taken their boots off and was now wading through the shallow water of the banks, climbing over moss-covered boulders and sliping once in a while. The cool water was a nice change compared to the hot air that had us all sweating and I was really tempted to go for a swim but I also didn't want to delay the mission so I kept quiet.

The angels kept staring at their location devices but nothing was showing up. They looked like they were beginning to lose hope and Solas regularly huffed at the monitor before shoving it back into his pants. The others just frowned and used Hypnos as their personal punching back, whispering nasty remarks under their breath since he was happily bouncing around, slipping and splashing water everywhere. He didn't seem to have noticed though.

"We could be at home, fighting in the war, yet instead we are wasting our best men on looking for people who are probably dead." Eris hissed, looking at the angels who were a few meters ahead. "Why are we putting ourselves in danger for people we don't know or care about."

"We are trying to seal this alliance." Erebus told her.

"Maybe these winged assholes are cooperating with Heaven and keeping us away from the battlefield. We are primordeal gods, we are one of the strongest in our pantheon." Eris grunted, gripping her daggers. "Would explain why we have come up with nothing for days. Absolutely nothing. Not even a hunch."