Resilience of the Soul {Fanfiction-sequel Book 3}

MUD

"Not again!" she wailed internally. But she could not help herself. The feel of the wind in her face and the strong muscles moving beneath her reminded her strongly of what it was like to ride her white dragon. Would she ever ride the skies with him again? "Of course I will!" she told herself firmly. She let the wind dry her tears from her face. She did not want to show the others her sadness; they were doing enough for her as it was.

The water horse galloped for the best part of an hour, never tiring, never needing to take a break. Finally, Chihiro saw what he had found for them in the last dying rays of sunlight. There was a small hill rising out of the mud. It had willow trees growing on it and it was quite firm. Snaffu slowed to a trot and then a walk. Chihiro slid from him. The horse was covered in foamy sweat and look like he needed a good rub down and a night in a stall with a blanket over him. The nygal must have seen Chihiro's concern.

"I'm alright, mistress," he said with a cheerful horsy grin. "I'm just not used to being so active out of water. I'm not tired." Chihiro patted his side thankfully. The horse snorted, wheeled around and galloped away. She scrambled up the hill. It was quite flat on top. She wished she had her pack with her; she could have started a fire. It was almost completely dark. For the want of anything better to do, she sat with her back to one of the large willows.

She blinked against the darkness. Her hand found its way into her mud-encrusted trousers and her fingers stroked something that felt like silk. She took the braided hair of her mate from her pocket along with the small bottle of water from his river. Even in the low light the hair still flashed with dull green highlights. She stroked it absently as she inspected the vial of water. It was still clear. The river might be suffering, but it was as healthy as it could be under the circumstances. There was a shuffling to her left; to her right, a twig snapped.

Even a few months before, the thought of being alone in the dark with unknown things surrounding her would have terrified Chihiro. Now, after all that had happened, she knew that little else as traumatic as having her mate ripped from her was likely. Whoever it was would have attacked her immediately if they were truly dangerous, or hungry enough to want to eat her.

They would also not be making noise if they did not wish her to know they were there. She slipped the bottle into her pocket and continued to stroke her mate's hair with her right hand. With her left hand, she pulled out her Tac'Tal. The noises stilled immediately. It would be immediately obvious to any denizen of the spirit world that she was protected by a formidably powerful entity. Chihiro felt it was time for introductions; luckily Haku had schooled her well in such things. She could hear his lilting voice echoing in her head.

"Be careful around those outside the bathhouse. Never give your first name; it can give a spirit a modicum of control over you if they know what they are doing. Be polite always and always have your Tac'Tal on display."

"What so they can see I'm owned?" Chihiro remembered saying sarcastically.

"Precisely," he had purred in her ear, pulling her close, running his hands down her back. "They will know my power protects you. Even if I am not there, the spells in my gift will be a force to be reckoned with if they use magic."

"And what if they just try to hit me with blunt instruments?" she had asked, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"If you're polite it won't get to that stage," he chuckled. "Most spirits will take one look at my gift and want to play nice."

"And if they don't?" she had murmured into the soft skin of his neck.

"Then I suggest you run for it," he laughed, unpinning her hair and running his fingers through it.