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"I never imagined wanting to be seen like that. Until I t him. Until he marked . I want to be strong, but I also want to be... soft. I want soone to protect not because I am weak, but because I matter. But I do not know if there is space in his heart for soone like ."
Silence followed. Not awkward silence. Not cold. The kind that lingered because two people had opened sothing they were not supposed to. Sothing quiet and too real to laugh away.
Then, without a word, Azhara reached over and gently placed her hand on Lirien’s. "You know, for soone who acts like a tal cube, you really know how to twist the heart."
Lirien gave a shaky smile. "Sorry."
"Do not be. That was poetic. If you ever stop forging weapons, I will hire you to write romantic drama scrolls. You can call it ’The Sad Smith’s Seduction thods.’"
Lirien chuckled once, caught off guard.
Azhara leaned closer, her expression softening. "You do not have to flash skin or act crazy to win sir Kai’s heart. Just show him who you really are. The girl who faces fire every day and still wakes up to pleasure her man. That is rarer than anything."
Lirien nodded slightly. Behind them, Naaro snorted at her place and shouted, "You cannot milk a swordfish!"
Both girls jumped. Lirien slapped a hand over her mouth. Azhara burst out laughing.
They turned to look at Kai. "Let us keep the volu down. Our ant lord is still dreaming," Azhara said with a grin.
He was still sprawled across the Alka’s back, completely passed out, snoring faintly. Sohow, he still managed to look noble even with a crushed leaf stuck to his cheek and one foot dangling off Alka’s side like he had passed out during a school fight.
"I will think about it," Lirien whispered.
"You better," Azhara replied. "Because if you do not, I absolutely will. And I do not wait in line. We will throw you on Sir Kai’s bed when we can’t handle his big thick anaconda."
"You are shaless."
"Professionally."
They shared a smile.
The clouds below drifted slowly by, forming a dreamy sea of white. The wind carried them forward, over forests and hills, toward the mountain where Luna and Miryam waited.
And Kai slept through it all. Unaware that while he fought beasts and monsters in his dreams, the real battle was quietly playing out just behind him.
Alka’s wings beat steadily against the highland winds. Her shadow drifted over river valleys and jagged ridgelines. She was silent for the most part, save for the occasional feathered ruffle or grumbling chirp when Azhara shifted too much weight near her tail feathers.
The sun climbed higher, casting gold across the sky and streaking their path with warmth. It was a calm day. Unnaturally calm. The kind of silence that makes even the craziest girls start to reflect. And that was saying sothing, considering Azhara was there.
Kai had finally stirred by midday. He sat up slowly, rubbed his face with one hand, and blinked at the empty horizon like he had been asleep for years.
"I sll sothing burnt," he said groggily.
"That’s probably Naaro’s brain," Azhara replied from behind him.
"It’s not ," Naaro muttered. "I’m fine. Just... overcooked by the sun."
Kai laughed while his joints cracked as he stretched, spine popping in a rhythm that made Vel wince and Naaro lust.
"Are you dying for his body again?" Vel asked.
"No," Naaro said. "Just feeling a tingle in my lower lips aggressively."
He looked around. The flock was awake, lively, and chaotic as usual. Sha was grooming her hair with a tiny clawed comb she had stolen from Vel. Naaro was making whispery lustful thoughts to the wind, claiming vel had disrespected her feelings. Azhara was braiding Vel’s hair while Vel pretended to hate it. And Lirien... Lirien sat quietly, eyes fixed ahead, arms wrapped around her knees.
Kai watched her for a mont longer than necessary.
Noticing this, Azhara coughed loudly. With too much emotion.
Lirien pretended not to notice.
Alka dipped suddenly, catching a rising wind current and swooping down toward a wide clearing on a cliffside plateau.
"We are landing," she said to Kai. "Because if I do not eat sothing, I will fall."
He gave her neck a gentle pat. "Thanks, girl. You are the best flaming eagle chicken I know."
"I will land now." Alka said to Kai.
The mont they landed, everyone spilled off her back like a herd of sleep deprived birds.
Vel fell face first into a bush and pretended she had ant to do it. Sha, flopped down on a rock and declared it her new throne.
Azhara, of course, headed directly to Kai. "I made you sothing," she said sweetly.
He stared down at what she was holding.
"It is a burnt mushroom."
"No, it is a roasted emotional taphor," Azhara replied.
"It slls like despair."
"That’s how you know it’s working."
Kai took the mushroom. He took a bite. He imdiately regretted everything.
"Why does it taste like chest?"
"Because it is," said Lirien quietly, appearing beside them with a small satchel. "She put the mushrooms in between her chest and rubbed it to leave her chest sll on it."
Kai coughed and spit it out. "You..."
"I brought real food," she added, handing him a simple dish of seasoned beast at and dried herbs.
He accepted it with a grateful nod. "You are the only normal Subordinate."
Lirien flushed a little but said nothing.
Azhara crossed her arms and glared. "I still think mine had more character. You should at least eat my food."
"Your food and cooking is the most bizarre way." Kai replied.
"It’s my love sir kai."
As the group began setting up a temporary camp, Akayoroi approached Kai. She moved with regal grace, her upper body cloaked in crimson silk, her lower ant half gleaming under the sun.
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