Enoria is preparing for war with Irithara, and the team sans Kaleth are doing the best they can to put a stop to it before it progresses even further.
Their plan? Find Mereria, get her help with killing Relioth, and save Kaleth in the process. They...
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The closer they got to the Iritharian border, the more nervous Mel became. Not only did he keep looking around, trying to figure out if Nef was here with them or not, but the crushing reality of their situation made it really hard for him not to just turn around and fly Kaleth back to Enbrant.
He knew he couldn't do that, but he still wished he could.
Kaleth seemed to notice Mel's mood because he kept stroking Mel's neck. It did help a little, but given that part of the reason Mel was nervous was that he was lying to Kaleth, well, it kind of ruined it.
I won't let anything happen to you, Kaleth told him with his mind gently, sounding a bit sad. He probably still didn't want Mel to come with him.
I know, Mel replied, smiling to himself slightly despite the situation they were in. He just found Kaleth's protectiveness endearing. When the protectiveness wasn't suffocating, of course.
Kaleth didn't say anything, but Mel could feel he was happy about Mel's trust in him. Well, happy for Kaleth anyway—even in his head he wasn't that expressive.
Mel looked to his left where Rayni and Edras were flying next to them. Mel could almost touch Rayni's wing with his, but he didn't try. The last thing he needed was making her fall. Rayni did seem to have gotten the hang of flying now, though, and was randomly increasing and lowering her altitude, and dipping from one side to the other.
She must have been bored of just flying in a straight line for several hours. Mel smiled at her, trying to swallow down his fear to make it look more convincing. She didn't seem to notice though. Mel looked at Edras instead, noticing her eyes were glowing faintly.
The two were probably talking to each other right now—no wonder Rayni didn't notice him giving her an awkward smile. It did remind him that Kaleth and Edras had gone drinking yesterday, though, and so now Mel was thinking about that.
He really didn't want to ask because it felt very personal, but he just wanted to know how Kaleth was dealing with this. Though Mel didn't actually expect him to tell him.
Did you and Edras...talk? Mel asked, and Kaleth huffed in that sad amusement Mel had come to know and greatly dislike.
Yes, she...explained why she agreed to let Mereria in. He sighed then and sent Mel a feeling that the Eternal recognized as being at such a loss you can only shrug. I still don't understand it.
There was a spark of frustrated anger behind those words, and Mel craned his neck to look at Kaleth behind him. He didn't really look angry, mostly pensive, but it was clear he was angry too.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Mel apologized. Kaleth smiled at him, though, and shook his head.
It's fine, love, you didn't, Kaleth said, stretching his hand out to reach behind Mel's head. Mel hummed happily as Kaleth rubbed his ears, almost forgetting to flap his wings for a second as he melted into the touch.
