Yet Another Realm: Exhaustive Speed

The next morning was dark and grey, and saw Devromos waking first, followed shortly by Gaël, who took the liberty of gently rousing Ipala and Faladir. It began to drizzle during their breakfast, which went quickly, and then it was time to prepare to enter the Plane of Shadow.

 

Faladir suggested he and Ipala take their natural forms once more, so that they could fly through the plane with Devromos' guidance.

 

Devromos inclined his head, but folded his arms. "Before we go anywhere in the Plane of Shadow, I need a reliable landmark of this plane to look for, or we'll be going at high speed to nowhere."

 

"Yes, of course," Faladir confirmed. "I haven't forgotten."

 

Zerisint deferred to Ravyne. You know this land better than I.

 

Ravyne closed his eyes for a moment as he thought on what would be a good landmark. There is a tall mountain, a straggler of its chain, by a deep sea inlet. The forests recede some miles before it, turning into marshland. The port town resides upon a wooden infrastructure, which needs repair every year from the poor foundation and constant flooding. The inlet is almost circular, and the mountain almost meets the coast. Is that enough?

 

The tiefling nodded. "Plenty, thank you." He then looked to Faladir and Ipala. "If you don't mind flying blind, it would allow us to cover more ground before I wear out. But I'll need you to pay close attention to my directions."

 

"Certainly," Faladir said.

 

Gaël, meanwhile, got up on Ipala's back, and prepared himself for another trip of discomfort.

 

Devromos put a hand on Ipala's shoulder, then held out his other hand. "I need physical contact to pull you all in."

 

At that, Ravyne and Vyxréth moved closer, and each wrapped a tail around Ipala - easier than wrapping around Devromos.

 

Faladir came closer and wrapped his long tail around Devromos' lower leg, while Zerisint mimicked his friends and wrapped his tail around Faladir. Gaël simply held on.

 

Devromos took a steadying breath, closed his eyes, and focused. Then with a single step into Ipala's shadow, the world seemed to change around them. Gone was the sunlight, the clean air, the soft grass underfoot. Instead, a dark, desaturated world met them, 'plants' and buildings oddly misplaced, warped mockeries of their counterparts on Earth. The air was stale, with a persistent stiff breeze, and there was a constant, distant howling - weirdly muted, like listening to the wind through a canyon while underwater. Visibility was extremely poor for all but Devromos, who could see fine. Even Vyxréth's fires barely provided any light at all.

 

The world was both perpetually in motion, but also gave a sense of being eerily still, creating a constant dissonance.

 

Steadying himself with a grimace, Ravyne felt the sudden disconnect from Gaia keenly. It made him dizzy and lightheaded, and vaguely ill, his weak body not as able to handle it as stronger kijikaiaku like Vyxréth or Zerisint could. Steeling himself, however, Ravyne chose to ignore the unwellness, the sense of wrong, choosing instead to focus on the fact that, if Devromos spoke true, then this would allow them to put Gaia's mind at ease more quickly. Once, they returned to Earth, anyway, as he felt she'd be worried over their disconnect, even if she had learned through them what was about to happen.

 

Zerisint's tail tightened around Faladir's middle, and he shuddered, waves of nausea and general malaise washing over him. This feels... awful, he stated. Let's move, quickly. Vyxréth, can you still fly in this? he asked, walking uneasily over to his companion.

 

Faladir knelt so Devromos could climb onto his back.

 

Vyxréth shook himself, then knelt down so his fellow kijikaiaku could get on. I can. It's not pleasant, but...my own tainted energy has made me feel worse on and off before. I do not envy Nyxathta, though, if he feels this way constantly.

 

Devromos was slow to get onto Faladir's back, pulling that many people into the plane had left him mildly dizzy. He shook it off soon enough, and refocused on where they were to be going. Once he was sure the kijikaiaku were ready, he signalled over the mindlink for all three fliers to take off.

 

Faladir took lead, with Ipala and Vyxréth close behind at his flanks, and sped through the Plane of Shadow as fast as he dared. Too fast, and he risked being unable to follow Devromos' directions quick enough. Too slow, and they'd lose too much time and their kijikaiaku friends would be suffering for too little gain, if their auras were anything to go by.

 

Time seemed to lose all meaning on the Plane of Shadow, for it had no day, no night, and its change seemed to not care about seconds or minutes. Devromos was able to keep track through long experience - not to mention that he'd been partially born on the plane - but his primary focus was keeping them on course. That, and steering his friends and allies around various obstacles, as unlike him, they couldn't see things like random fucking mountains until it was nigh too late. The visibility was simply that poor for those not meant for the plane.

 

The stiff air was hard to fly in, as it alternatingly was a brutal headwind and then absolutely dead still, either way creating extra work for the fliers - dead air meant constant, exhausting flapping for wings more meant for soaring, as gliding any significant distance was difficult to almost impossible with no wind nor thermals. The headwind, meanwhile, kept trying to blow them off-course, and was an exhausting fight in its own right.

 

Though to be fair, it was still less work than flying through a severe storm, as at least it was semi-predictable, and Vyxréth took point after a while to blunt the worst of the headwind.

 

It was about an hour and a half when Devromos finally signalled for them to land. We'll have to walk the rest of the way, Devromos said over the mindlink, mental tone exhausted. I can't keep us here much longer. Not without resorting to measures I'd rather not.

 

Faladir was glad to land, approaching exhaustion.

 

Zerisint, huddled down against Vyxréth's back, was trembling and awash with too many sensations at once to name them all. Yes please. Out. Out is good. I want out! He all but fell off of Vyxréth's back, barely catching himself on his feet. His tail flopped on the shadowy ground.

 

Gaël watched him with concern, but didn't get off of Ipala's back just yet. He looked to his husband, brows knitted with worry. He could barely see Devromos, but he could sense him well enough. Thank you, Devromos, but it is time we left.

 

Come close. Once everyone was in physical contact with everyone else, Devromos pulled them back to Earth's material plane. Ravyne breathed a sigh of relief as he felt his connection with Gaia restored, and couldn't help the joy at seeing the sodden green of the marshlands, the blue, if almost overcast, sky, and the warmth of the sun's rays. They had outrun the storm by a longshot, but it said something for Ravyne's condition that it took him a while to notice that they were actually within a few hours' walking distance of the port town.

 

Vyxréth, meanwhile, lay down in the marsh's shallows, too weary to care about the water - the Plane of Shadow had sapped him, and for once, he needed rest. Still, it was good to be home.

 

Ipala soon joined Vyxréth in lying down, though he still managed to summon the energy to be considerate of Gaël and thusly avoid knocking him off. His wings lay in the marsh water, feathers getting soaked, but he hadn't the energy right then to care. They'd made fantastic time, it seemed, but at the expense of exhausting or sickening almost all of their number.

 

As for Devromos, he was almost limp against Faladir's back, eyes closed as he focused on his breathing and staying awake. "Bear with me a moment," he requested quietly, as he took the breather to marshal his remaining strength - at the moment, he doubted his legs were going to support him.

 

Faladir, too, slowly settled onto his knees, careful not to dislodge Devromos. His breathing was still fairly hard and fast.

 

Zerisint flopped onto the grass, a patch just out of the water, and shut his eyes. Just need to... need to... rest...

 

Gaël, while feeling somewhat ill, realized he was the most unaffected by their trip, and so slid off Ipala's back and softly thanked him for carrying him through the plane. He went to check on Zerisint, but as the kiji was naught but so much energy, it was hard to tell what, if anything, there was to do to help him. He looked for answers from Ravyne. "Are you three going to be alright? Your auras look... sick."

 

Ravyne was tired, but perhaps the most able of the three to fight through the drain and malaise. He offered Gaël a reassuring, if tired, smile. The plane severed our connection to Gaia, but with our connection restored, we will be fine. With rest and Gaia, there will be no lasting harm.

 

Gaël gently stroked Zerisint's long furred neck, and the texture was both soft and tingling with energy under his fingers.

 

Zerisint made a soft, pleased grunt, and opened one red eye to regard Gaël. I will be fine, but thank you.

 

Gaël sighed, the concern hardly abated, but got up and went to check on Devromos. He knelt beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

 

Devromos was barely responsive, but after a few moments, he lay his hand over his husband's. Dragging six through the Plane of Shadow for that long had just about hit his limit, and the exertion left him still dizzy. Still, after some minutes, he managed to gather himself enough to get off of Faladir, though with a bit less grace then he usually managed.

 

Gaël offered his arms for support, and walked with Devromos to a drier patch of the marshland where they could sit and rest. He dug around in his pack for a moment, then produced a canteen, which he uncapped and offered to Devromos. "Here."

 

The canteen was accepted with a quiet thanks and grateful smile. Once he was done with it, Devromos capped it and handed it back to Gaël, before simply leaning against his husband, once more closing his eyes. I am not so used to this anymore, he commented over the bond. Back when we met, this level of exhaustion was just the order of the day. Though I could also barely shadowport back then, let alone bring anyone to another plane with me.

 

Gaël wrapped his arm around Devromos, and lightly pet his hair with his other hand. You did really well. I think we made it pretty far.

 

We should be near the port town, Devromos replied, though his mental voice almost faded off. It was tempting to just let himself drift off into sleep, but his long time on Alluani and general upbringing made him reluctant to do so. Not until he was sure the area was safe.

 

Ipala, meanwhile, had managed to catch his breath enough to get himself out of the water and onto one of the drier patches of land. Once he managed to get himself relatively comfortable, unlike Devromos he had nothing against taking a nap - Gaël was clearly awake enough to keep an eye on things.

 

Faladir was up next, and came to sit next to Ipala. He had just enough energy left to shift to humanoid form, but after that, he leaned against his colleague with a heavy sigh, and nearly dozed off. He shook himself and forced himself to sit up straight. "No. No, not yet." He erected his usual protective barrier, larger than usual to encompass everyone but also somewhat weaker, and then let himself relax again.

 

Gaël kissed Devromos on the top of the head. "Go ahead and sleep. I'll stay up and keep watch with our kiji friends."

 

Though still reluctant to rest without scouting the area first, Devromos was tired, very tired, and he trusted his husband. Conceding that staying awake wasn't really useful right then, Devromos settled into a bit of a more comfortable position, wrapped his tail around himself and Gaël, and let himself pass out.

 

---

 

Ravyne was the first to stir from his rest, getting up and finally hopping down from Vyxréth's back. Stretching, he then moved over to Devromos and Gaël, to lie back down behind them. Your world must have some wonders, he commented, telepathy directed specifically at Gaël so as to avoid disturbing the others.

 

Gaël lifted his head from Devromos' to glance over his shoulder at Ravyne. It does. Why?

 

I'm curious, and it would pass the time while the others recover.

 

Gaël smiled, and thought carefully about what he should say to Ravyne. Well... There's Galabastarin, the world we came from. Is that the one you want to hear about?

 

While I am also curious about this Alluani that has been mentioned, I would like to hear about Galabastarin.

 

Alright. Well, Galabastarin is what's called a 'super-Earth', it's several times greater in size than this Earth, and a lot of the animals are much, much larger and more ferocious. They're called megafauna. The magic there functions differently from here, too, in that it needs to be 'woven' from metaphysical threads, and not everyone can do it.

 

Drakiri are somewhat unique in that we're inherently magical beings, but even then there's a chance for failure at casting spells, unless you're on Faladir's level or better. But, once you get really good, you can call lightning storms, firestorms, call up water from the ground, craft ice, levitate, breathe underwater, and so much more. We're magical down to our bones, and our horns are what we use to focus.

 

Here, he frowned. Unfortunately, this also makes our body parts valuable on the market to certain buyers, and poachers can make a living hunting us. One of our friends came to us injured due to poachers hunting him up to the walls of our town, and he barely escaped intact thanks to the sympathy of one of the human doctors.

 

He sighed. Most of us are strong enough to fend them off, but some of us... Some of us aren't. He shook his head, sending white strands of hair swaying. But these aren't the 'wonders' you wanted to hear about, are they? Galabastarin is massive and diverse, with varying levels of technology depending on where you go. Some still live tribal lives, while others reside in advanced cities.

 

Our friend Sylvanus has been trying to implement a lot of infrastructure upgrades to Andatori, where us and most of our other friends currently live.

 

He paused, thinking for a second about what he could actually say to Ravyne, then asked, Do you have any specific questions, or do you want me to keep rambling?

 

Your rambling is plenty interesting, Ravyne replied with a smile. But I do have a question: How does Galabastarin prevent technology from damaging the natural world?

 

Hmm... It doesn't, really, I guess. But the people are advancing in different ways than my home of Terra did, or the way this Earth seemed to. They find more ways to live with the land, rather than destroy it for gain. I don't know if that will still be true many years from now, but for the time being, the planet seems healthy.

 

Then I hope things continue to go the way they currently are. Perhaps our world could learn from yours, Ravyne mused. Technology in and of itself is not an evil - I saw how hospitals were used to save the lives of humans and animals alike. If there is a way to improve quality of life without resulting in another imbalance, it would be something to look into, and maybe carefully guide the denizens of Earth towards.

 

It would certainly be more preferable than another mass cull, Gaël said, careful to keep his emotions about the matter out of his tone. Perhaps I should tell you more about Vruanhai, instead? It's a technologically and magically rich world, and its people thrive alongside the land rather than tear it up to gain from it. Myriad species live in relative peace, though there's some friction that inevitably occurs, and wars can happen, but they're rare.

 

He shut his eyes, thinking. How long had it been, since he'd seen one of the worlds he'd called home? Magic breathes and pulses through the planet and every part of nature, and that includes the people and animals who call it home. The people are able to channel it and do wondrous things, though care is needed, because lefvada - Vruanhai's magic - has a mind of its own, and it knows when you're doing something it doesn't like.

 

The lefvada actively keeps certain kinds of technology from even existing, just because of the way it flows through the world. It's not 'technophobic' like Alluani is, but it feels close, sometimes.

 

Could you elaborate on Alluani's technophobia? Ravyne was, naturally, rather curious.

 

Alluani, the planet itself, is a living entity. Once, the people of the world were technologically advanced, but they got too far, polluting and damaging the planet in their carelessness. Eventually, Alluani had enough, and erected some kind of... field? Or will? I'm still not sure, but it dismantles anything too advanced beyond fancy clockwork mechanisms, or just stops it from working altogether. It doesn't destroy the creations, just... makes them not work.

 

Normally, Ravyne would have assumed that Alluani was another celestial dryad, like Gaia. But, something about the way Gaël described it told him that wouldn't be an accurate equivalent. Alluani must have a lot of power to erect such a powerful enchantment.

 

Gaël shrugged. It is a sentient planet. Oh, and its sun, Pelinor, is also alive. They're a sapient overdeity.

 

Ravyne blinked. And I thought the outsiders and Alluani itself were impressive enough. Is there anything not sapient and alive there?

 

Gaël smiled and waffled the hand that wasn't part of the arm around Devromos.

 

The purple kijikaiaku tilted his head. Well, I suppose it leads us back to the original subject. Please, tell me of the wonders, of all four worlds.

 

Gaël laughed softly. The wonders... Okay, let's see...

 

They chatted for the next hour, until Faladir finally woke from his doze. His stomach grumbled, so he dug through his pack for something quick and easy to eat. Seeing Gaël wrapped up with Devromos and having a mental conversation with Ravyne, he got up when he was done munching, and stretched, long tail swishing out behind him and nearly slapping Ipala.

 

He turned and placed his hand on Ipala's shoulder to gently try and rouse him.

 

Ipala was slow to rouse, having been more deeply into dreamland, but rouse he did. Still in his natural form, it took him some moments to clear the haze from his mind - once he did, the first thing he registered, after Faladir's presence, was that his wings ached. The next was that he was starving.

 

Careful not to bump into Faladir, the dark green mystic stood, stretched, and then shifted to his humanoid form - it was easier to avoid knocking into people. "Good afternoon."

 

"Good afternoon. Sorry to wake you early, but I thought it might be time to move to a better location. And perhaps eat. Not necessarily in that order." Faladir grinned.

 

Zerisint, having finally recovered, rolled onto his feet from where he'd been lazing for the past however long, and trotted over to Vyxréth and nudged him with a paw.

 

Vyxréth had gone from dozing to staring at his reflection in the marsh water, lost in thoughts on his own identity as he stared into his own reflected red eyes. Zerisint's nudge brought him back to reality, and he shook his head, realizing he was still lying down in algae-filled marsh water and mud. He stood. "Thank you. I'm going to go shake myself off where it won't splash anyone."

 

Ipala, meanwhile, chuckled at Faladir's words. "I am not opposed to this."

 

Zerisint watched his friend walk out of splash-range, then headed back to the others and found a dry patch to sit in.

 

Faladir prepared a late lunch for everyone, and when it was nearly done, Gaël attempted to wake his husband. "Dev."

 

It spoke volumes of just how worn out Devromos had been, that neither the bustle around 'camp' nor Gaël's wakeup attempt made him so much as stir. Indeed, his breathing remained deep and steady, and he hadn't budged at all since falling asleep. Normally, Gaël so much as sneezing was enough to wake him.

 

"I think he needs more rest," Gaël told the others.

 

"After his exertions, I'm not surprised," Faladir said. "That's alright, let him sleep. If need be one of us can carry him until he wakes. Ravyne, how far are we from the port town?"

 

A few hours' walk, Ravyne replied, and nodded in the direction of the port town. Devromos cut down almost the entire week of travel it would have been otherwise. Unpleasant as the Plane of Shadow was, we did make very good time.

 

"That's a relief. I don't like traveling through it myself, but it's excellent if you need to be somewhere quickly." Faladir handed a bowl of soup to Ipala first, since he was closest, then spooned more into another bowl and walked over to Gaël to hand it over.

 

Gaël had to shift carefully so that Devromos could still lean against him without falling over, but would also allow him to eat, and gratefully accepted the bowl.

 

Faladir served himself last, and together they enjoyed a hot lunch. Not much more was said, everyone too hungry to focus on much besides their food, and Faladir collected the bowls when all were empty, and handled cleanup.

 

Gaël once more tried to rouse Devromos.

 

Though it took longer than it normally did, this time Devromos did rouse. Slowly. It took him half a minute to realize he was still leaning against Gaël, and a few moments longer to sit up properly, rubbing one of his temples as he worked on clearing out the mental fog. "Something wrong?"

 

Gaël lightly rubbed Devromos' back. "No, everything's fine. We're just wanting to move, since it's been a couple hours now and everyone else has had enough of a break. We made really good time; Ravyne says the port town is just hours away now."

 

Devromos could've used the entire next day for rest, but pride wouldn't have him admit that. Instead, he gave his husband a one-armed hug, checked to be sure his blades were still in their sheaths, and then got up and stretched. He was still tired, but not quite so exhausted, and what rest he'd gotten would be enough to get him to town - and if it came down to it, he could also still fight. Devromos had never been one to let biology get in the way of what needed done. Which...had seen him almost die needlessly more than once when he was younger.

 

He'd learned the virtue of pacing himself outside of emergencies the hard way.

 

"We going to move now, or do I have time to wake up more first?" he asked, looking first to Gaël, then Faladir.

 

"You have some time," Gaël said, not giving Faladir a chance to say otherwise. "There's some soup not put away yet if you're hungry."

 

It was that which had Devromos' stomach remind him that it did, in fact, want food. It wanted food pretty badly. So it was he promptly made his way over to where the remaining soup was, and helped himself once given the clear.

 

Ipala, meanwhile, used the time the tiefling took to eat, to work on doing what he could to clean his feathers - letting them sit in marsh water and mud hadn't helped them retain their aerodynamic properties, though it had succeeded in making the bright, sparkly indigo appear less bright and less sparkly thanks to a film of algae and mud.

 

--

 

Finally on the path again, Gaël's hand intertwined with Devromos's, and Faladir and Ipala chatted idly back and forth about Earth and where they were headed. Zerisint kept quiet, contemplating recent past events, and walked alongside Vyxréth.

 

Within hours, the port town came into view, much to the group's relief, and they picked up the pace a little.

 

As the seven came upon the town, it became apparent that unlike the previous one, it had no walls - something not unheard of on Earth or ancient Terra, but which would've doomed the town had it been on Alluani. The main road split in two right before the town, guards stationed at the fork and a roaming patrol keeping an eye on the town's parameter. Most of the houses were single-story, though there were a couple two-story shops, and the town hall appeared to have a three-story bell tower. Carefully-lain cobblestone paved the town's roads, and the piers were easily seen once the group reached the town square.

 

It wasn't a terribly large port, but it did have multiple piers, and was just large enough to have a drydock and one pier big enough for a ship larger than a fishing boat. That larger ship looked to be a merchant vessel, and the town market belied the process of a fishing village evolving into a proper town of trade.

 

By the time they reached the town, the meal had worn off, and Gaël was feeling hungry again. "Why don't we split up?" he suggested. "Fal, Ipala, you two secure us passage, and Dev and I will find somewhere to eat."

 

Faladir shrugged. "I'm alright with that."

 

Zerisint hummed softly. "If we are splitting, then I will go with Faladir and Ipala."

 

Personally, Devromos would've preferred to find somewhere to stay the night and worry about sea voyages the next morning, but food was also appealing. The walk hadn't done his energy any favours, but he wasn't about to admit to it - though he'd learned to put his pride, like his temper, into a box when needed, he still had it. So food it would be.

 

"A good idea." Was Devromos' agreement on the matter.

 

Ipala looked between Gaël and Faladir, then also shrugged. "It works. Though, I would like if we could find somewhere to wash, too. The grime of the road is starting to itch under my feathers, and a marsh isn't too helpful."

 

Neither Ravyne nor Vyxréth commented, but Ravyne walked over to Gaël, while Vyxréth went to sit between Zerisint and Ipala. The big golden kijikaiaku then had to budge over to avoid being walked into by one of the townsfolk passing by.

 

I'm sorry Dev, Gaël commented over their bond. I know you're still tired. I'm having them secure us a boat so you can get some rest, but chances are we'll be able to sleep soon, either in town while we wait on a ride, or on the boat after it departs.

 

"Oh, I can handle the cleaning real quick, if we want to find somewhere private," Gaël offered.

 

Faladir smiled. "Going to scrub us all down with your water magic? Much as I'd appreciate it, I think I'd rather get the ship secured first, and then make plans around the captain's schedule. Come, Ipala." I'll scrub your feathers while we walk, if you like, he added over mindlink. With his illusion magic active once more, they looked like common travelers, only slightly dusty from the road instead of mud-spattered.

 

Faladir turned and gestured for Ipala, Zerisint, and Vyxréth to follow him.

 

Gaël headed off with Devromos towards the smell of food.

 

Ipala accepted Faladir's offer, and when he felt the magic tingling between his feathers, subtly cleansing grime away, he sighed with relief.

 

Faladir maintained a translation spell as well, though he found he didn't need to ask for directions to the docks, the smell of salt and fish on the air enough of a guide to lead him in the right direction. He did need to ask a dockhand where he could find the captain of the obvious merchant vessel, and when probed, gave a non-answer and moved on with Ipala in the direction he was pointed.

 

The captain was a woman in her late thirties, stern-faced and with a proud, rigid posture, and she regarded the pair of 'elves' with curiosity as they approached.

 

Faladir greeted her warmly, and introduced himself and Ipala before opening discussion about buying passage to the Antarctic.

 

"Just the two of you?" the captain asked. "What are you, scientists?"

 

"Yes, actually," Faladir said. "We also have a pair of capable fighters with us, though they're currently getting food. We'd like to secure passage for them as well."

 

The captain pondered for a moment, then said, "Pirates are a problem, even that far into icy waters. Are you sure you want to risk it?"

 

"We can all defend ourselves quite well," Faladir tried to assure her.

 

"Hm. I'll believe that when I see it."

 

Faladir smiled. "Do you need proof before we board?"

 

The captain met Faladir's steel-grey eyes, and really looked at him now. "That you're offering to prove it says that either you're cocky, or you really can fend for yourselves. Fine. What say you all pay half the price for your passage, and you also defend my ship in case we're attacked? If you decide you don't want to do the fighting, it'll be full price."

 

"Reasonable. We'll take that offer," Faladir said, not even bothering to consult the others over mindlink. "The half-price deal, I mean."

 

The captain smiled. "Of course."

 

---

 

Devromos and Gaël found a decent restaurant to sit and eat at, and were halfway through their meal when Ipala and Faladir came through the front door. Gaël waved them over, and the pair came to join them.

 

Faladir filled the others in on the details, and Gaël sighed. "What?" Faladir asked.

 

"I would have agreed, but you don't think it would have been nice to ask first anyway if we were ok with being defenders against pirates?" Gaël said.

 

Faladir bit his lip. "Oh. I'm sorry."

 

Devromos shook his head. "It's fine, just something to try to remember for next time." If he held a grudge over everything friends and family did to anger him, he'd have to write several books just to keep track of it all.

 

"Right. Well. In any case, I've paid the captain half upfront already, and she plans to leave in several hours. Once we finish eating, she said we're welcome to board the ship and retire to the guest rooms." Speaking of eating, Faladir waved down a waitress so he and Ipala could place their orders.

 

Vyxréth had once more managed to fit himself into a corner that an eight foot tall being should not fit into, but apparently kijikaiaku were like cats that way. That means we can continue making good on our travel time while the four of you rest.

 

Blessedly, yes, it does, Faladir said.

 

He and Ipala got their food before long, and dug in. Chatter died down, everyone more interested in eating than talking.

 

Once dinner was over with, Faladir guided them to the vessel they would be traveling in. He introduced Gaël and Devromos to the captain, who was still overseeing the loading and unloading of cargo, and she waved them all aboard.

 

"Azen is in charge of keeping the guest quarters maintained. Short man, black hair and beard. Ask him for your keys."

 

Gaël and Faladir both thanked her, words overlapping, and then everyone walked up the gangplank to the deck in single file. Ipala was the one who found Azen first, and after a brief exchange, the everyone in the group got a key.

 

Gaël, though, paused and asked, "Does this key open the same door as that one?" He pointed at the key Devromos had.

 

Azen said, "No, why? You each have your own room."

 

"O-oh. Um. It's just that he and I usually... share a room."

 

Azen raised a brow, then held out his hand. "Then I guess you won't be needing that key."

 

Gaël shook his head and handed it over. "Do you have a spare for the other room?"

 

"I do. Here." After some sifting through a key ring, Azen pulled off a key that matched Devromos's, and gave it to Gaël.

 

"Thank you."

 

With that, Azen waved for the group to follow him below deck, where the guest quarters were. "Your room numbers are engraved on your keys. Ring the bell if something goes wrong. Not for anything trite, or the captain'll skin you." He turned and left the four behind, oblivious to the kijikaiaku he walked through.

 

Zerisint shivered. I hate crammed places for that reason. Well, now that that is all out of the way, your husband looks dead on his feet, he said to Gaël. Go get some sleep. We'll each keep watch.

 

Dead on my feet or not, don't hesitate to call if you see enemy sails on the horizon, Devromos replied to the kiji over the mindlink. I'm lethal in far worse condition than I am now. Something happens, don't spare me.

 

Zerisint smiled up at him. Understood. Now please, go rest.

 

Gaël took Devromos' hand and led him over to the door to their room, and got them inside.

 

Likewise, Faladir and Ipala retired to their respective rooms, and the kijikaiaku divided up so that each of them covered an area - Vyxréth on the deck, since he had the most height and could fly for better visibility, Zerisint in the guest hall, and Ravyne essentially on patrol.

 

Devromos pressed a hand against his choker once the door was locked, desummoning the dhaebru robes and armour to reveal his dark red fur that was interrupted with brilliant red streaks. He had nothing against being nude, like most who'd spent much time as a Drakiri, he just found the dhaebru armour reassuring when out in places with any risk of attack.

 

But in a private room under covers, robes were unnecessary, and he curled around his husband once Gaël joined him in bed.