~Tabitha's P.O.V.~

I woke up early the next morning. I groaned softly as I pushed myself to my feet. Man that bed was uncomfortable. It was a small thing just lain across the floor, and in this area, where rocks and sticks were everywhere, it wasn't the best. I should've accepted Aaron's offer to sleep in his tent. At least then I would have been off the ground. I rolled my shoulders and sighed. I had slept in worse places, don't know why I was complaining now.

I quickly got dressed, putting on a blouse, vest, pants and shoes, before slinging my silver bow over my shoulder. Outside everyone was slowly getting up with the morning sun, ready for another long day of travelling. It would take another two days to get to Lysia, by my reckoning anyway.

I walked over to mum's tent. She was already up and dressed. We shared a rather dismal breakfast of crackers and water. While we were constantly on the move it was difficult to get a decent meal. For me... it was enough to get me through at least until lunch, but mum found it a little more difficult. A lot of people did. It was all they could do to grin and bare it.

Once we had finished we began quickly pulling down the small makeshift tents that served as our shelter. The good thing about them was the fact that they were rather easy to put up and take down, but they weren't great protection from the cold or wind.

A large breeze suddenly rushed over me and I looked up to see Blu and Tyron flying down toward us. They landed a couple of metres away, Blu doing so a little awkwardly, before making their way over to us. My brother seemed a little sore, limping slightly as he walked, but the two of them seemed very... comfortable in a giddy sort of way.

"Morning Tabby, mum," Blu smiled.

"Mornin' Blu," I responded, "You two seem very relaxed this morning

"Yeah, I'm just happy I got to sleep with my lover without any... interruptions," Tyron said as he nuzzled Blu's neck.

Blu inhaled sharply and froze. His mouth quivering as his blue scales turned purplish in a very obvious blush. The red dragon chuckled at his reaction and lightly nipped his neck again before turning towards us. I watched, unsure what to make of what he had just said. I frowned, and opened my mouth to ask a question when Mum interrupted me.

"I take it you two had hunted before your trip here?" she spoke up, abruptly changing the conversation.

"Y...yeah," replied Blu, "I caught something this morning for us to eat."

"Good, than we can start packing up our things properly, if you will carry them for us again dear," she said with a sharp sweetness that suggested she was a little annoyed, though at what I still had no idea.

I looked between the two as they chatted.....I think they're trying to hide something from me. I just know it. We began to pack up camp, folding up the last of the tent coverings and tying them up on the two dragons. I would be walking with what I could carry, as would mum. We weren't the only people Blu and Tyron helped with carrying their belongings. All the larger creatures were helping with moving things in one way or another. Some weren't exactly happy about it, but they accepted it.

I kept a close eye on the two dragons. Tyron would whisper something to Blu and he would blush, or reply very nervously. Nothing that I could hear of course. And there was the fact that my brother wasn't exactly walking quite right. Hmmm; limping, blushing when flirted, dodging questions regarding last night.... It made me suspect something that I didn't think would happen for a while yet. The thought made me blush and I shook my head. No... that couldn't be it... could it?

It wasn't long until we started moving again, the soldiers gathering up around the outsides and our convoy began to move again. Blu took to the air, and Tyron settled into walking beside me as we began to plod along. Mum was with us as well. We walked in silence for a while, but I couldn't keep the questions bottled up inside me. I was way too curious.

"So...what did you and Blu do last night?" I asked Tyron.

He glanced at me and hesitated, "Well... Blu showed me his old home. We laid together in his old bed, talked, and then we slept."

"Oh," I frowned, "Nothing else...?"

He tilted his head at me and shrugged, "Well, we did flame Blu's old food storage. Stuff smelled awful. I found maggots and flies all over the rotten meat."

"Alright, alright, I get the picture, you don't need to go into detail," I grunted and he only chuckled

Tyron wasn't going to reveal anything it seemed. But I guess, if anything did happen, Blu would tell me eventually. I just needed to give him some time. I turned my mind away from those thoughts, for now, and focused on the road ahead. So far in the journey, we hadn't been attacked by Garagain or his forces, and I held onto the hope that we would make it at least to Lysia unscathed.

~Aaron's P.O.V~

The horse below me let out a breath of what seemed like annoyance as I swung myself on top of it. Another long day on the saddle to look forward to. Before all of this, I had mostly walked everywhere, alone, with the solitude of my mind. It had been a surprisingly easy existence. Easier than all of this anyway.

"Don't worry boy," I said, rubbing the horse's neck, "Soon we can rest."

That was true. Once we reached Lysia I was planning on staying a couple of days, let everyone have a well deserved break from the constant movement. That was assuming the town was still there. With what we had seen while travelling through the countryside so far it didn't seem likely. The only good thing was Lysia was in a very secluded spot of Teleran, and it was possible that Garagain had yet to find it, or really worry about it.

With a nod to the guards around me we began to move once again, trekking across the mountainous landscapes. We made sure to stick to the valleys, trying our best to maintain the easiest route. I was grateful that I had been here before, and Blu was also quite helpful as he knew these mountains very well.

A few hours into the trip there was a sudden commotion halfway down the line, causing us to draw to a halt. I frowned and turned my horse around, speaking to the guards around me.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Sire!" came the deep voice of a minotaur as he came to a stop beside us, "We have a situation. A wagon's axle is broken, badly."

I frowned and nodded my head. Tapping the my horse's flanks I quickly galloped down the line, past the worried onlookers. My guards yelled after me, quickly spurring their own mounts to catch up. A small grin crossed my mouth. They may be required to look after me, but their constant presence was extremely annoying.

I quickly found the wagon. It was unbalanced at one side with a wheel laying on its side with the part of the broken axle attached. It seemed as though it had hit a large rock, a bit too large for the wagon to handle. There was a guilty looking gryphon sitting at the front with its head bowed slightly. A middle aged man was yelling at a guard, gesturing at the wagon with increasingly exaggerated expressions.

When they saw me approaching they instantly stopped and turned toward me. They all seemed relieved to see me, which was a nice change. I swung off my horse's back and turned toward them.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We went over a bump I didn't see," the gryphon said hurriedly, "Sorry for the hold up sire."

I waved off the apology, "What is held in this wagon?"

"Valuables, food, numerous blankets and tents," said the man who seemed to be in charge of it, "We can't just leave it behind."

I nodded my head in agreement. We didn't have any room in the other wagons, or on the backs of any of the creatures, to hold anything else, and we needed everything we could get our hands on, and I couldn't exactly leave a couple of people without their belongings.

"Is there a mage here that knows a spell to repair things?" the man continued.

I shook my head, "That's not exactly how magic works."

I moved over to the broken wheel and gripped it, pulling it up with a slight grunt and setting it against the wagon, thinking for a moment. There was something I could do here, it was something I had done before a couple of times as well. I turned and looked at them.

"Could you set the two broken pieces together as straight as you can," I asked them, "There is something I may be able to do."

The guard and the man looked at each other, before nodding their heads. With the help of some of the surrounding bystanders, the wagon was lifted up so that it was somewhat level, and the broken wheel was moved into position. I was suddenly very glad we had mythical creatures in the kingdom, as a single minotaur had the strength of ten men, and it was a simple matter to hold everything in place.

Looking around I turned my attention to the creek bed running beside us. There was still water flowing through it, which was just what I needed. Putting my hand out I mentally called out toward it. A ball of water rose and flowed through the air, moving toward me easily and coming to a stop just above my hand. The others watched in interest.

"Alright," I spoke, "Hold it steady."

The broken pieces were pushed together as well as they could possibly do so. Using the water I had gathered, I let it slide over my hand, before pressing it against the broken axle. Cold magic flowed down my arm and into the water as I intensified my will, letting it freeze over the axle. It took only but a moment, before I pulled my hand away, seeing my handy work.

Ice covered the wood of the broke portion of the axle, glowing with a magical radiance. I nodded my head, rather proud of my efforts. It had been a while since I had had an opportunity to use perfect ice, a type of ice nearly as hard as iron. Standing up I suddenly felt a strange dizziness wash over me, and I shook my head, closing my eyes until it went away. That was the problem I guess, using such powerful magic always drained me.

There were a few gasps and 'wows' from the crowd watching as the people holding onto the wagon took a step back to find that the ice managed to hold its weight. I smiled at them and carefully climbed back onto the horse.

"There you go," I said to the man, "It should hold for a couple of days. Once we get to Lysia we can have a proper go at fixing it."

"Thank you sire," the man bowed his head, startled.

"Alright everyone!" I called, "Rest is over, we need to get moving again!"

I turned my horse and made my way back to the front of the line. It had been a welcome distraction, but I couldn't allow any more time to slip through our fingers. I had no idea what was in store for us, and wanted to get to this forgotten kingdom as soon as possible.

Looking back over the travelers behind me I let out a long sigh. New people joined everyday it seemed, attaching themselves to the ends of the line in hopes of finding safety in numbers. The only problem was, the more people that joined the harder it became to stay hidden, and with every new person came another threat, as we had no idea if Garagain had decided to send his own spies to join us. It was beginning to look like a pilgrimage. No, an exodus would be a better word.

I turned my attention forward once again. Soon, we would reach Lysia. Maybe there I would be able to get everything sorted out....hopefully.