We chatted for a bit more during dessert, and then made an early night of it. Amelia was happy to receive word of her brother, but is still anxious to catch up to him as soon as possible.

I had another nightmare that night, but thankfully my reaction wasn't nearly as extreme as last time. My thrashing still woke the girls, though.

"Sorrel, you're safe." Amelia's gentle voice soothes me after I snap upright in bed. "It was just a nightmare Baby, nothing is going to hurt you."

I'm panting and darting my head side to side looking for threats, but at least my fingers didn't shift into claws again. Luckily, I had the foresight to leave a couple of potted plants charged with the glow spell as night lights. Otherwise, I'm not sure how I'd react to waking up in complete darkness.

"I'm... I'm alright." I try to get my breathing under control. "I'm sorry for waking you two up again." I was honestly expecting this last night after running into the wolves yesterday.

"Don't be silly." Apricot chides me. "This just gives me another chance to help you relax again." She starts moving down to my waist before I stop her.

"Thanks, but could we just cuddle for a bit?" I cast cleanse on myself to get rid of the fear sweat and pull the girls down next to me. "I... want to talk about it. I'm sure you've already guessed that it has to do with wolves. They... I..."

"Shh." Amelia puts her finger on my lips. "You don't have to force yourself."

"..." I close my eyes and take a steadying breath before continuing. "Thank you, but I need this. I was jogging down the road one day, minding my own business, when bam! I was thrown straight into hell. I was tortured because I somehow offended someone in the past. I have no idea who, or what I could have done to warrant... what happened to me."

"Baby..." Amelia tries to say more, but I put my finger on her lips.

"Please, I just need to say this." She gives me the tiniest of nods as tears drip from her and Apricot's eyes. "I... I went through some really bad stuff, but the wolves were the worst. I'd be restored after each time..."

"Urp. Oh, gods Sorrel." Apricot looks like she's about to vomit, while Amelia just has tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry." I hug them both tight. "We just met, and I shouldn't be dumping this on you. But, I just needed... someone to know..." My voice catches, keeping me from saying any more.

"Oh, Baby." Amelia hugs me tight. "You had to live through that, the least we can do is hear you out."

"Thank you." I didn't speak anymore after that, just held them as they cried the tears I couldn't shed.

...

"Hi." I whisper to Amelia the next morning. I was only able to get back to sleep by connecting to nature and letting my mind drift away with the sleeping plants. "Are you okay?"

"I am. Are you?" She pulls back just enough to see my face clearly.

"I'm better. Thank you for listening last night." I stretch up to kiss her. "We should get going soon, the sun is almost up." It's still dark in the tent, but I can feel the plants waking up outside.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Okay." She starts stroking Apricot's back. "Come on Sweetie, time to get up."

"Hmm?" The pixie blinks her eyes tiredly. "Mhm hmm. Oh!" She startles awake and starts checking over my body to make sure I'm okay.

"It's okay, Apricot. I'm okay" I take her hands in mine and lock eyes with her. "Sorry for upsetting you last night, but that's probably not going to be my last nightmare. And, I thought you should know why I keep waking you up."

"You stupid man." She collapses against my chest, pressing her lips onto mine. "You don't have anything to apologize for. I can't believe you've been holding all that in."

"I've mostly just been trying not to think about it too hard." I slide my hand down her back and squeeze her tush. "Luckily, I've had some good luck at finding distractions. Now, get your butt up, we need to get on the road soon."

"Tease." She pouts, but pulls on her dress.

"Remind me to make you some more clothes today. You didn't want anything from Lacey's, but you need some spare dresses. Maybe some cute underwear too; Of course, I'll need some very careful measurements for those." I run my hand up her thigh before turning around to pull on my pants.

"Nng. Amelia, he's being mean." She whines to her other lover.

"Uh-huh." She rolls her eyes at the pixie. "I'm sure he'll make it up to you once we're on the road."

"Actually, I want to make a bicycle first." I say just to tease Apricot again. "So, the... measurements will just have to wait."

"Amelia." Apricot pleads.

"Sorry Sweetie, but I'm kinda interested in how this thing works myself." She opens the door flaps to reveal the pre-dawn sky. "But, right now I've got to pee. Why don't you go brush down and feed Stormie while Sorrel packs up the tent."

"Nnh, it's cold out here." She ducks back in the tent and grabs the blanket to wrap around her shoulders.

"No colder than it has been." I toss the mattress into storage and start taking down the tent poles. "You just didn't notice because we weren't using the tent before. But, I'll make a couple warmer outfits too. After my bike, that is."

She just growls at me and stomps off to brush the horse, still wrapped in our blanket.

"You guys off and running already?" Darrel asks from his bedroll. Mina asleep next to him, with Jax, sandwiched in-between them.

"Yeah." I nod. "Sorry for waking you, but Amelia wants to catch up to Rodrick as soon as possible. That means we've got another long ride ahead of us today."

"No worries, the sun would have woken me soon anyways." He gets up, careful not to jostle his wife or son, and goes to stir the fire back to life.

While he's doing that, I go to check on the wagon. It's a bit damp from the morning dew, so I draw the water away, and hit it with a cleanse for good measure. The axles and wheel hubs are holding up marvelously, but I give them a bit of extra grease just in case.

"I didn't get a good look last night, but your wagon doesn't have any metal on it." He says it as half-question half-statement.

"No, I built it from some magically modified wood." I explain. "It's holding up well so far, and the wagon is a damned sight better than riding doubled up all day. Apricot is a pixie, she's normally only this big." I add to clear up his confused look.

"Ahh." He nods and then sighs. "Must be nice to have that kind of magic; I can barely move enough air to dust a table. Jerome couldn't even do that much, it's probably one of the reasons he went delving."

'Note to self: dungeons make you more powerful.' I say in my head. 'And, thank you for that tidbit, Darrel.' I'm guessing that's the type of common knowledge that nobody talks about because everybody already knows it.

"How's the wagon holding up?" Amelia leads Storm over to get him hitched up.

"Good. Great even." I give the horse a magical once over. "And, so is Stormie. Just one more long day Bud, and then you can take it easy." I feed the big guy an apple and scratch behind his ears.

"We all ready to go?" Amelia gives the camp a once over, but doesn't see anything amiss. "Alright, the sun is up, we should get going. It was nice meeting you Darrel, Mina." Despite us trying to keep quiet, the miller's wife had just woken up and was still sitting on their blanket with a sleepy look on her face.

"Yeah." I nod to the pair. "Good luck in your new life, and good luck getting Jax to eat dinner tonight."

"Heheh." Darrel lets out a soft chuckle. "Thanks, and good luck to you, especially when you meet up with her brother."

"Safe travels." Mina adds with an amused smile on her face.

"Safe travels." I wave and guide Stormie out to the road.

***