You Owe Me Two

Chapter 25 - World Warping

××Zypher××

The sun shining through the window slowly forced me awake. I turned over in the hope that I could fall back asleep but immediately rolled into Wild and the rays. The rays whined at the accidental attack and shuffled away. I turned my head to face Wild, no longer caring about sleep.

I inched closer to her warmth and brought a hand up to smooth down her hair where it was sticking up in an odd direction. I let my hand trail down her face, taking in her swollen eyes and the tear tracks down her cheeks.

My eyes snapped up to meet hers when she went to stretch, showing that she had woken up. Our eyes locked and I sent her a small smile. She gave the smallest one I'd ever seen on her pretty face back. I wrapped my arms around her body and pulled her closer, letting her rest her head on my chest. 

"How are you feeling?" I whispered into Wilds' hair. Wilds warm breath fanned across my skin as she sighed. 

"Sick," Wild stated simply, her voice cracking near the end. 

"I'll go get you some water," I rushed, blushing my fingertips along her face. She nodded, moving over so I could slip out of bed. I padded out of the room and immediately ran into Ryland in the hallway.

"Hey man," Ryland greeted, patting me on the back, a sympathetic look overcoming his features.

"Hey."

We kept walking, both going into the kitchen together. I opened up a cabinet on the wall and pulled out a glass before turning towards the sink. Ryland was there filling a pot with water so I waited my turn.

"Are you going to be heading out soon? I know Wild was really shaken up about things yesterday," Ryland said cautiously, unsure on how to approach the topic.

"Yeah. We need to keep moving and it's best if we aren't here for much longer. I think it will only make things worse if we stay," I said, taking his place at the sink after he filled the pot. 

"I understand. It was good to see you though." Ryland gave me a wolfish smile, one I reciprocated. We didn't see each other much but I considered Ryland a close friend.

"It was good to see you too," I said, faintly smiling. I filled the cup with cool water and without another word, went back down the hallway and into the room Wild and I were sharing. I pushed the door open and closed it softly behind me. 

Wild was now sitting up in bed, leaning back against the headboard and a few pillows. The rays were curled against her right side, a gentle purring sound emanating from their throats. The yellow blanket pooled around her waist, showing off my oversized shirt that was threatening to fall off her shoulder.

I went to my side of the bed and leaned across to give her the water. Her fingers grazed mine as she took the cool glass from my hand. I climbed into bed gently as she brought the glass to her lips and drank. Once she was finished, she handed me the glass to set on the nightstand. There was only one and it was on my side. 

"Can we leave soon?" Wild whispered, moving so she could lean her head on my shoulder.

"Of course. I'll start packing," I said. I kissed the top of her head and slid out of bed once again. Wild followed suit and grabbed her clothes. She padded out of the room to get changed while I filled our bags. We didn't have a lot of stuff so it did not take me long to finish. I got ready quickly in the bedroom and met Wild in the hallway with our bags. The rays swirled around Wild as I handed her her bag. They took their spot in the bag as soon as it was settled on her back.

Ryland was sitting at the kitchen table, shoving a spoonful of beans in his mouth. Quite a weird food to eat for breakfast but it was Ryland.

"We're heading out now," I began, "Thank you for letting us stay here." It was wonderful to finally have a nice bed to sleep in.

"You're welcome. My home will always be open to you my friend," Ryland stood and pulled me into a quick hug that I was happy to return.

"It's always open to you as well, Wild." At his words, he glanced at my little fairy standing near the doorway. She looked up at her name and smiled slightly before nodding.

"Thank you."

"I'll see you again." I brought his attention back to me as I set a hand on Wilds lower back.

"You better keep that promise," Ryland said, his smile widening. I nodded with a small grin and led Wild out of the house. I shut the flap on Wilds backpack, much to the ray's dislike. With one last goodbye, we shut the door behind us.

It seemed like it was a much shorter walk than before. No one seemed to be outside, probably due to the events yesterday, so I didn't worry about someone recognizing me or thinking me to be someone else.

Just as we were exiting the town, a man with a long red beard stepped in front of us. I stepped back quickly, pushing Wild back behind me.

"Hello! Sorry, are you Wild?" He asked, his gruff voice catching me off guard.

"Yes," Wild mumbled, grasping my sleeve tightly. I glared at the man, causing him to take a step back and hold his hands up.

"A man named Novus left a warp weasel here for you." The man gestured behind him to the stables set up near the outskirts of the town. Horses and mounts were expensive and with Wild by my side, I couldn't afford one.

Wild and I shared a look.

"He described you," the red bearded man spoke, pointing at Wild.

"He just left it for us?" Wild questioned, quickly following after the man as he began walking towards the stables.

"Yep. Left it here yesterday, seemed to be in a rush," He said, opening a large stall door and leading the giant cream-colored weasel out.

"Thank you," Wild said as I took the reins. The man smiled.

"You're welcome. The fees for storing him were all paid for so you're good to go!" The man took off afterwards, having spotted a few people looking at the different stalls. I led the warp weasel out of the stable area and near the side of the dirt path. 

The weasel's gaze switched from Wild to the rays flying around its head every few seconds as I attached our bags to it's saddle. 

"His name is Damask," Wild mumbled. I leaned back and saw that Wild was looking at a tag on his reins.

"Everything's all set. Are you ready to go?" I asked. Wild nodded. I hopped up on the large, magical weasels back and held a hand down to help Wild up. I pulled Wild up and he immediately wrapped his arms tightly around me.

"I've actually never ridden a warp weasel before," I commented as Wild opened the top flap of her backpack. Wild leaned back slightly and gestured between us. The rays settled in against my back while Wild kept them safe from behind.

"Maybe I should be at the reins then," Wild joked.

"Not a chance," I teased back.

"Damask," Wild spoke loudly, "take us to the Fae Isle."

The weasel perked up at hearing its name, its rounded ears swiveling to catch the sound. He quickly ran forward after hearing the location's name. He ran for a few seconds before a green and blue swirling portal began forming in front of his running form. The weasel jumped through once it was large enough and soon we were landing on the ground somewhere else in the world. The weasel took a few running steps before repeating the process. 

Each jump brought us closer and closer to our final destination.