Chapter 63

I hadn't even so much as twitched until Genie gently shook me awake early that next morning. I just blinked up at her for a moment as she yawned. It was still dark out, but the moon was hanging very low in the sky now, telling me that dawn wasn't far off.

"Go back to bed, Genie. It's going to take me a minute to get up." I whispered to her, trying my hardest not to wake Xavier up, and she just nodded to me with a tired smile before standing up to head back over to her bedroll as I went about the task of attempting to remove myself from Xavier's hold. It took me a minute, but I managed to slip out of his grasp, keeping his cloak as I wrapped it around myself further to keep a barrier between me and the frigid morning air. 

My breath came out in frozen little puffs as I went about piling a couple more logs onto the fire and slowly took everyone in as I sat there stoking the flames. The prince was absolutely passed out with a small puddle of drool under his cheek as he snored softly. His pegasus was curled into a little white ball of fluff at the foot of his bedroll. Lexi was curled into a tight ball under her covers; a few strands of her ebony hair were all that was visible from where I sat. Kira was nowhere to be seen, so I assumed that she was probably curled under the covers with Lexi. Genie had just settled back in on her side, curled under the covers as she faced the fire, all but passing out the second her head hit the pillow once more. Xavier hadn't moved from where I had extracted myself from his grip. He was still stretched out on his back, the muscular arm I had been happily using as my personal pillow still stretched out beside him, as the arm that had been securely wrapped around me was now resting across his abs. Carefully, I tucked the blanket that he had tucked me under earlier around him just a little more. 

I knew that he was probably fine, considering that out of all of us, he was the only one with the specialized lined gear he wore. Even with being only in an undershirt, pants, and socks, he was probably still far warmer than anyone else here. 

I couldn't help but to smile as I looked over the relaxed lines of his face. My hands itched with the need to trace my fingertips over his sharp jaw, to slowly smooth over all of the normally hard lines as he relaxed, to run my fingers through his tousled hair, but I didn't want to wake him. Instead, I looked away, distracting myself as I smiled at the distinct little hump at the bottom of our bedroll where Nova and Bane were curled together under the covers.

I just sat there, tending the flames as I watched the moon dip lower and lower on the horizon before light started slowly blooming over the desolate land. It was all quiet as I watched the sun start to rise with bursts of bright orange, pinks, and purples as it quickly started chasing away the frigid night air, turning the harsh landscape back into the sweltering desert of the day.

Xavier stirred not long after the sun had started peeking over the horizon, slowly stretching before he sat up, running a hand through his hair as those emerald eyes slowly took me in. I had already stashed his cloak back into his bag, but it still wasn't warm enough for me to strip off my extra layer just yet. It was just about to that point, but it was still a little nippy.

"How are you doing?" He whispered to me, instantly making me smile.

"I'm fine. I didn't wake you up this morning, did I?" I asked as I looked him over. He just grinned at me, though. 

"Sorry, princess, but you're not that sneaky. If I hadn't let go of you, you wouldn't have been getting up." He whispered to me as he came over to kneel in front of me. Tipping my chin up with a soft press of his fingers, he pressed a soft kiss to my lips before pulling away once more. "I'll be right back, princess," he whispered, pressing another soft kiss to my forehead before pulling away entirely. Going over to his bag, he pulled out a set of his light clothing before walking out a ways from us to change. 

There really wasn't much in the way of privacy out here, but we still tried. I turned my back to him, looking off into the horizon once more. There was a flash of movement in the distance, and I slowly leaned a little more forward where I sat, trying to get a better look. Something was sticking straight up out of the sand in the distance, slowly waving back and forth. It was a really long way off, but at the same time it was hard to tell just how far, considering everything out here was flat as far as the eye could see. 

I continued watching it as Xavier came back over beside me, and I instantly pointed it out to him. If anyone would know if it was something to be concerned with, it would be him. He knelt beside me once more as he watched it for a long moment. "It's rather far off, but we should start packing up anyway. Those things can move far faster than we can out here, and the second the familiars start shifting, it's going to be headed this way for sure. If it isn't already." I just nodded to him as we started quickly packing up our bedrolls and bags. "Stay there, and keep an eye on it while I get the others up." 

"Okay," I answered with a nod before doing just that. However, after he had woken Lexi and Genie up, it disappeared. "Xavier, it's gone," I called to him, honestly a little relieved, but that was short-lived when I realized that he was anything but. His head snapped up in the direction it had been as he stood over the prince. He cursed under his breath before rather violently shaking the prince awake. 

All at once, everyone was moving. It was controlled chaos as Xavier called orders, quickly getting everything we needed packed and strapped together by one of the chains of his braces, so that, no matter what, Bane was able to grab everything else would come with it. 

 "Mount up," Xavier called as Lexi handed him the last bag and he clipped the chain back onto itself and tucked the brace back into his bag, securing the bundle. The girls instantly ran for Kira as the prince jumped up onto his pegasus, and Xavier ran towards me as Bane and Nova leapt into the air. 

That happened to be the moment I finally caught sight of what had Xavier so worried. That sand worm I had seen in the distance had gone underground, and the crack that was very quickly coming straight towards us told me that Xavier's worry hadn't been misplaced. It must have picked up our scent when I had seen it earlier. 

Bane's shadow cast over me as I turned towards Xavier just as he grabbed me, picking me up as I instantly threw my arms around his neck and my legs locked around his waist. Suddenly, I had a fairly good idea how we were going to get up onto Bane, but that didn't make it any less terrifying. 

The ground beneath Xavier's feet started to rumble, and he took a couple of steps back as the crack reached where we had all just been sleeping only minutes ago. "Xavier," I whimpered. We were directly in the path of that thing, and it wasn't slowing down in the slightest.

"I know, princess. Just trust me and hold on. I'd never let anything hurt you, Ari." He reassured me, wrapping his arms more securely around my now trembling form as I clung to him even tighter. I tucked my face into the crook of his neck just as Bane wrapped one huge forepaw around both our waists, grabbing the pile of bags with his other before flying up as fast as he could, just as the ground below our feet exploded upward. Xavier's hand moved to the back of my head, pressing me in closer to him as he shielded me from the worst of the spray of rocks and sand. I couldn't help but jump and cling to him so hard that I wasn't sure I would be able to let go as the sharp snap of hundreds of large, sharp teeth sounded right below us. I felt the hot waft of the thing's breath hit our legs, and the rancid smell of rot and decay hit my nose as we were pulled just out of the thing's reach. 

Once we were far enough in the air and safely out of reach of that thing, Bane tossed the two of us upwards before dipping below us, and Xavier easily landed on his back. He didn't falter for even a single step, even with my added weight as I still gripped onto him with every ounce of my strength. 

As he sat in his seat, I finally allowed my body to relax slightly as I finally took a breath. "I need you to let go, princess. I have to go get our bags." He whispered to me, gently stroking his thumb over my cheek as I just nodded, but my body felt like it had locked in place around him. "Relax, sweet girl. You're safe." He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and my trembling limbs finally seemed to unlock from around him. "That's it, good girl. Now take my seat and stay put. I'll be right back." Slowly, he shifted our positions around to where I was sitting alone on Bane as he stood beside me.

Bane leveled out, allowing Xavier to stay steady as he carefully made his way down to Bane's forepaw, collecting our bags from him before making his way back up to stash them all behind us.