Chapter 64:

After Xavier had tied all of our bags down onto Bane, he gently unstrapped my swords from my shoulders before removing his own to stash on top of the bags for easy access, while still allowing us to be comfortable on the long flight. Then he held his hand out to me to take, pulling me to my feet for just a moment. He turned me to face him before sitting back down with me on his lap now. I was more than happy to lean in against his chest as he slowly looked over my face, gently brushing his thumb over my cheek as he carefully inspected every inch of my exposed skin. "Did any of those rocks hit you?" 

I couldn't help but to smile as I leaned into him a little further. "I'm fine, Xavier." As much as I wanted to tell him that he already damn well knew I was fine, considering he had shielded me from the worst of it. I loved the fact that he still checked. It made me feel like he actually, genuinely cared. 

"Good, then try to get some more rest while you can, princess." He whispered to me, gently cupping my cheek as he tipped my chin up and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. Pulling back, he wrapped his arm around my waist as I happily leaned into him, laying my head on his shoulder as I just relaxed for a little while. 

I wasn't sure how long I stayed like that, but by the time I stirred, the sun was high in the sky, and both of us were sticky with sweat. Bane's scales seemed to absorb the heat in this area, and I could hear him breathing heavily with the effort of flying, but after our experience with the sand worm this morning, we were all rather nervous about landing any more than we absolutely had to. 

We only landed briefly by one of the very few and far between watering holes so we could all take a moment to drink and rest. I, however, opted to stay up on Bane, considering I wanted absolutely no part of the huge sand leeches that started swarming the area as the familiars drank from the small pond of spring water. Xavier took care of any of the giant ones around us, but still ended up having to cut several of them off both Bane and Nova before getting back up onto Bane so we could leave. 

I made sure to check every single inch of him before he took his seat with me. Like hell if I was risking getting even a single one of those nasty things on me. The girly scream from the prince was more than enough to tell me that I wanted no part of that. Xavier leaned into me, and I felt his breath brush the shell of my ear as Bane took off. "I hate to inform you, princess, but you missed the one spot that leeches really like to hide." I gave him my best glare as I watched a grin slowly tip his lips, showing off that damn dimple. "I'm just saying." He raised his hands as if innocent, even though we both knew he was anything but. "They prefer warm, dark places, and the small ones find it rather easy to get under clothing." I almost got whiplash as I turned as far as I could to look at him, trying to see if he was actually fucking with me or not. 

"Xavier," I warned, and his grin only widened as those emerald eyes sparkled with pure mischief as I glared up at him. "I'm not sticking my hand down your pants in front of everyone, and I swear to all that's holy. If I find a single one of those things on me, I'm going to jump right off Bane's back rather than deal with that." He just chuckled at me before pulling me back against his chest once more. 

"Relax, princess. I tend to know when something is sucking on me, especially there." He whispered before nipping at my earlobe, and I felt my whole face flush red once more. 

By the time we found a place large enough to set up camp, we were all exhausted. Xavier took first watch once more, and similar to last night, he was more than happy to hold me. Wrapping his cloak around me as he protected me from the harsh change in temperature. 

I happily leaned into his hold, wrapping my arms around his waist as I curled in against him a little further. "Do you think that sand worm is going to come back?" I asked, and he just looked out at the dark horizon for a long moment. 

"It's hard to say honestly. I want to say that we were able to get far enough away to be safe for tonight, but there's really no guarantee. With how far off that one was to have come after us, it had to have been close to starving, so there's every possibility that it's going to follow us. However, with that said, there's also a good chance that in doing so it will pass into another one's territory and they'll fight each other. Either way, you should rest while you can, princess." He gently tucked the hood of the cloak around my face, running his knuckles over my cheek, and I smiled as I closed my eyes, laying my head against his shoulder. 

Luckily, that night was all quiet. Apparently, we had successfully made it far enough away from that one, or, as Xavier had said, it ran into another one that was bigger and hungrier than it was. Either way, by the time we took off in the morning, everyone seemed to be in a better mood. 

We stopped once more to let the familiars drink out of a small pond around noon that was right on the edge of the Dead Plains and the Fairy Woods. Even though I knew the woods had their own dangers, something about seeing the lush greenery once more after all of the dull beige sand felt like pure relief. Not to mention the actual relief that we got from the sun in the shade of the gigantic trees. 

I had never actually been outside of Celestia until I went to the Academy, but this... this was something else entirely. The saplings were the size of any normal tree that I've ever seen, but the full-grown ones... those were easily several feet taller than Bane, and just as thick. It was so different from anything I've ever seen before that I couldn't help but to just stare as I tried to soak it all in. The thick lush grass and other vegetation mixed with all of the bright pops of flowers lining the whole forest and climbing up the trees in flowering vines of every color imaginable was downright breathtaking. 

I took another sip from my water before placing the cap back on it and wandering just a step further into the lush green grass. It was honestly wild just how vastly different the two places were. There was practically a clear line where sand ended and grass began. It swayed just over waist-high in the light breeze. Genie looked right at home amidst the greenery; it was a little odd watching her move with absolutely no resistance through the tall grass while the rest of us struggled to take a single step through the stuff. Not only was it waist-high, but it clung to you as you passed, sticking to our clothes and skin as we moved, wading through the tangled mess. Even Xavier only moved just far enough into it to get into the shade of the trees. I did, however, notice that he was being extremely careful about not letting even a single blade of it touch his skin.

'He has to,' Nova answered me as she came up into the shade beside me. All of us were more than happy to take a moment to rest after the long hours in the heat of the plains. 

'What do you mean he has to?' I asked her as she lay out in the grass, seeming completely unfazed by the sticky mess. 

'Our scales are too smooth for it to get purchase, but back to the other question. You have to remember that everything in Fairy feeds off of magical energy. The reason it's sticking to you like that is that it's taking small amounts of your magical energy every time it touches your skin. While it's nothing that's going to exhaust you in small doses like this, just like everything else here, it's still feeding from you. Look at the path you walked to get into the shade.' 

I turned and looked across the small patch of grass I had just walked through to get here. There was a clear distinction in the color of the grass. Just from the strands brushing against the bare skin of my arms, they were darker, more lush and healthy-looking versus the dried-out, thirsty-looking grass surrounding it. 

'Exactly, now you have to remember, Celestials have the least amount of magical energy of the races. Beastials, on the other hand, have the most potent form of magical energy of the races. Therefore, out here, if he let a single blade touch bare skin, it would grow far more than it would with anyone else's energy. Once we get into the actual forest, it won't be as much of an issue, considering the plants in there aren't starving for energy like they are out here on the edge.'

That made sense, although now I felt bad about the fact that he couldn't actually relax and enjoy the shade like the rest of us could. Especially since Bane had all but abandoned him to lie out behind Nova. 

It wasn't too much longer until Xavier called for us to get moving once more, and the prince groaned, but still surprisingly didn't protest the order. I, however, was more than happy to get back into the air. I was actually getting a little excited to get to the camp at this point. I really just wanted this trip to be over and hopefully get an actual bed. Preferably with the warrior that was currently climbing up onto Bane behind me. 

"We have to make sure he listens for the rest of the flight," Xavier whispered to me as I took my seat, wrapping his arm around my waist as he pulled me flush back against himself, sending a shiver down my spine as his lips brushed the shell of my ear. I just nodded to him. "You're aware that this forest feeds off of magical energy, right?" I nodded once more. "The reason for that is due to the Fae's magic, but what people don't know anymore is that the whole reason this forest exists in the first place was due to the Alliance between the Beastials and the Fae. They combined their powers to artificially grow this forest as a natural defense for the Fae border. The Beastials have been helping the Fae sustain it for centuries, but now, due to the corruption, the forest is starving. The larger trees and life have enough to sustain several years of neglect, but the smaller plant life has already begun dying off. It's making the plants far more vicious than they were ever meant to be, and it's extremely dangerous to be too far inside that forest. The Fae are the only ones capable of walking freely through it, but anyone else has a high likelihood of being hunted down within minutes. It's been changing far more rapidly in recent years, so we have to be extremely careful about where we stay out here. On top of that, due to it being starved, the amount of energy just being in that forest would take from me would show any plant Fae worth their magic that I'm not a Celestial." He gave a pointed look at where Genie and Lexi were flying to the left of us. 

Shit, that could pose a serious issue considering Genie wasn't just good with her magic; she was the top plant Fae at the Academy. If we landed in the wrong area and Genie picked up on him... I didn't even want to finish that thought. If he were outed in front of the Prince of Celestia, he would be as good as dead. Even if he could run, where would he go? Without a cure, he was just as susceptible to corruption as any other Beastial.