Chapter 21:

A jarring, jostling sensation pulled a groan from my lips. It pulled at every searing cut and scrape on my aching body. My arm was screaming in pain, and I slowly blinked my eyes open, having to blink several times to be able to comprehend the fact that I was currently moving through a dense, snowy forest. Slowly, I looked down to see that I was on the back of a large chestnut horse, instantly having a fairly good idea of what was happening at least. 

I took a moment to look down at myself. I couldn't see much, considering I had a heavy cloak around my shoulders, but I did see the strong arm that was banded around my waist. It was the only thing holding me upright as I leaned back against a strong, warm body that I was getting rather used to being in the arms of. Taking a breath, I closed my eyes once more, thankful that I was far warmer now, too. My fingers and toes tingled from the cold, but they weren't numb like they had been up on that cliff, and they didn't hurt as badly as they had while we were getting down from said cliff. Did he change me? I wondered as I tried to get my bearings when I felt a slight weight climb up onto my shoulder. A smooth, scaly cheek rubbed against mine, and I smiled. 

'You're awake! How do you feel, Ari?' She asked as she huddled up a little closer to the side of my neck. 

'Better than when you found me.' I answered as Xavier's grip tightened on me slightly, causing me to wince. The sling that my broken arm was in bounced against my chest as the horse navigated a particularly rough patch before going back to a flat pace. 

"Sorry, princess," Xavier whispered to me, and I couldn't help but grin a little at that stupid little nickname. 

"I thought I told you not to call me that." I chided, because at least if I was teasing him, I wasn't focusing on the pain that every single step of the horse brought with it. 

"I never said that I was good at listening." I just shook my head at him, looking up to see him grin as he watched the path in front of us. "Plus, I'll stop calling you that when you stop acting like one." 

"How am I acting like a princess? I haven't complained once since we've been out here, and trust me, I've had a lot I could complain about." 

He chuckled at me, making me smile once more, but I almost screamed with relief as the clearing we had landed in when we got here came into view. I couldn't even express just how grateful I would be to be on Bane's back at this point. "Fair, but do remember that I'm the one who had to play hero and abandon their post to rescue your ass." 

"My knight in shining armor." I mocked, making him chuckle once more as I leaned my head back to look up at him again. "Are you going to get in trouble for that?" I asked as I looked over his sharp features. 

"Possibly, but there's a good chance they'd just challenge me over it, and that I can deal with. They aren't much for locking up their best defense, considering the Vampirian border is only about a day's flight from the academy at this point. It's been spreading far faster through their territory, but in Fairy, it's moving far slower."

"How does it spread?" I asked, instantly thinking back over everything he had told me. He's had plenty of contact with infected people, but still didn't seem bothered, so that couldn't be how it was transmitted. 

"From what I've been able to tell, being exposed to the corrupted land is enough, but it's not like I've really been able to test that theory. We know it's not transmitted from the corrupted people, so the land is the next logical guess." He dismounted, tying the horse to the same tree the other one had been left at for us, as I just stared down at him. If that's the case, then was he exposed to it because of me?

He came back over to my side, reaching up to help me as I swung my leg over the saddle, taking my weight as he wrapped his arms around my waist as I slid down from the horse, and gently set me on my shaking legs. My good hand fisted into the leather of his jacket, and he looked down at me in question. "Were you...?" I didn't even want to finish the question. Not now, not when I had just been told that I had a true mate, someone who was meant for me in every way. I had barely been able to even start getting to know him. 

He took a breath, letting it out before giving me a nod. "I'm not sure how long it takes to set in or if it's different because I was only on the ground for a few seconds, and the fact that I'm half Celestial, but yes. There's a good chance that I was, at the very least, exposed to it. I've already talked to Bane about it; he's our only option to monitor things." It felt like the ground had just fallen out from under me, and I gripped onto him a little harder as I tried to steady myself. His arms instantly wrapped around my waist, gently holding me there against his chest. 

"You don't know for sure, though, right?" I asked, leaning a little further into his hold. He just nodded, leaning down to press a soft kiss to the top of my head. 

"No, we don't know for sure." He whispered to me, running his hand down my back in a soothing gesture. "Can you walk?" I nodded against him before slowly releasing my grip on him so we could keep moving. Bane and Nova had both already moved further off into the field, shifting to their full sizes. 

Xavier wouldn't let me carry a single thing. Even when I offered to just take my bag, he still refused. However, even with the extra bag, he still only made one trip. To be fair, it was probably substantially lighter at this point, but I was just happy to see that he had gotten my swords back. He followed me over towards Bane, keeping his free hand on the small of my back as we made our way across the field. 

My legs shook under my weight, but at the same time, it felt good to stretch the aching muscles. I stopped to run my hand over Nova's cheek, and she bent her head down even further to gently press her forehead against mine. I smiled as I leaned into her. I'm sorry for being upset with you. I was only upset in the moment. I understand that you couldn't tell me. I told her as she made a soft, rumbling sound as she carefully leaned further into my touch. 

'I really wish I could have told you. Bane told me the first day we were together, but there's a lot more to it still, Ari. I promise we'll tell you everything once you're better, but right now you really just need to focus on making the trip back. The healer at the camp was already exhausted and wasn't able to do much other than give you some strong pain medicine. Once that wears off...'

'Is it really that bad?'

'Your arm was the worst of it, but you have a lot of minor injuries everywhere, along with a serious lump on the back of your head and a few nasty bite marks. You're going to be feeling this one the whole way back.'

Great, that was just what I needed to hear when I had at least a two and a half day trip back. As I backed away from Nova and turned to start heading towards Bane once more, Xavier placed his hand at the small of my back as I slowly started climbing up Bane's leg. 

He made me sit as he tied everything down, and I wasn't about to argue, considering my head had already started to pound again. Once he had everything tied down, he helped me up, quickly taking his seat before pulling me back down to where I was facing him. I just leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around my waist, anchoring me to him as I laid my head on his shoulder, using him to block out some of the light and motion as I squeezed my eyes shut. 

By the time we got to our first campsite, whatever they had given me had completely worn off, and I fully understood what Nova had warned me about. Everything hurt, and it compounded as I shivered. My winter clothes were gone, and while they had doubled my underclothes under a standard set of armor, it wasn't nearly enough. Xavier had even taken his own coat off, draping it around me as well as his cloak in an attempt to help as he set up camp, but at this point, it didn't even feel like I could get warm.

It wasn't until I was lying down, still with Xavier's winter jacket around me, the man himself pressed snug against my back, both our cloaks over me, and the blankets that I finally stopped shivering. 

The next day, I felt even worse, and ended up slowing down our progress due to having to stop several times because I kept getting sick. We were supposed to be back Sunday night, but ended up not actually getting back until about midday Monday, when Xavier had to all but carry me back onto the academy grounds.