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.

Edras said she had nothing to live for before she met Mereria, Kaleth continued, not bothering to hide the pain that accompanied the words. Her husband has apparently been cheating on her for two years now, and her work wasn't enough to give her a purpose anymore.

Mel didn't know what to say, but thankfully Kaleth continued a moment later.

I just.... I hate that I wasn't there for her. I'm her older brother, I should have helped her. The least I could have done was be there when she needed to talk about her problems. And instead, I was pretending I didn't know her or pretending to be Relioth's right-hand man, or....

Mel's heart ached. What was he supposed to say to make Kaleth feel better? He wasn't good with words, so instead, he just sent some mental comfort to Kaleth. It didn't seem to help much, but it was better than nothing.

I know you regret not being in contact with Edras for so long, but now you're together again. Isn't that what matters? Mel tried and received an affectionate pat on the side of his neck.

I suppose. I probably do focus on the past more than I should.

There was no 'probably' about it, but Mel didn't say anything. The fact that Kaleth realized it was good enough for him. They stayed silent for a bit, and Mel used the time to stare down at the glistening ocean beneath them while trying not to think about how probable it was that one or both of them died in the following hours, or, if they made it past the border, days.

We're almost at the border, Kaleth said suddenly, glaring at the mountains on the horizon. Mel had been trying not to look at them since they'd appeared, but now he didn't really have a choice.

Kaleth was right—they were very close now. Mel begrudgingly focused on the mountain range, trying to spot any aircrafts, but there didn't seem to be anyone waiting for them. The other Eternals slowly joined them, which made Mel wonder if Kaleth had told them to.

He probably had and somehow managed to keep Mel out of the conversation. Mel had no idea how that was possible though since the only way he'd ever managed to talk to more people was through the kind of telepathy that included every living creature in the area.

Soon enough, they'd divided into two groups, one surrounding Kaleth and Mel and the other surrounding Rayni and Edras.

Fly away from Rayni, Kaleth told him, and Mel did so, sighing. He really didn't like being surrounded by Eternals who only days ago would have loved to kill him on sight. The way they were looking at him was really making him uncomfortable. He wondered what they would have done if Kaleth wasn't present.

However, thankfully Kaleth was there, and the Eternals were leaving Mel alone, so he just focused on the ocean again.

As they got closer and closer, though, there still was no sign of Irif's forces. Did that mean that maybe they wouldn't have to face them? Mel liked to think so, but Kaleth was radiating pessimism as he kept glaring at the mountains with suspicion.

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Mel looked away from Kaleth and back at where they were going, his heart hammering in his chest so much he thought it would get damaged if it continued going at this pace. Still, he flapped his wings even faster than before, as anxious to get over the mountain range as much as he dreaded it.

At least the other Eternals seemed to be less focused on him now, so that was one less thing to worry about.

As the snowy mountain tops got closer and closer, Mel closed his eyes, too afraid to look as they finally crossed the border into Irithara. Mel held his breath for a second, unable to get any air in his lungs as his eyes snapped open again.

But nothing seemed to have happened.

They were now flying over the mountain range, the same wind blowing into his eyes as it had when they were flying above the ocean, and nothing had changed. At all.

Mel felt some of his anxiety leave him, and he breathed in, a little more easily now.

I guess they're not here, Mel told Kaleth, but he didn't get an answer. Mel looked over his shoulder again, suddenly worried as he saw Kaleth doing...something. He was clearly concentrating if the frown and staring at seemingly nothing were anything to go by, but concentrating on what?

Then Kaleth outstretched his arm quickly, and the next thing Mel knew was a bullet barely missing his head. He watched it in horror as it hung in the air above his nose, and then he looked at Kaleth again.

Look for cover, Kaleth ordered all of them. There are at least a hundred soldiers in the forest—we can't fly over it.

The way Kaleth sounded like he was struggling to get the words out made Mel worried, but as more and more bullets started making their slow way towards them, Mel decided it wasn't the time for that. He followed the others as they dove towards the mountains, looking for anything they could hide in.

He could hear cries as bullets hit their marks, despite Kaleth's attempts at slowing down time, but Mel ignored it, able to think about only one thing—getting Kaleth to safety. He could feel him getting tired, and Mel knew Kaleth couldn't keep this up for much longer.

Mel dodged a few more bullets as he finally reached the bottom of one of the mountains, desperately looking for anything.

There's a crevasse at ten o'clock, one of Relioth's Eternals said, not sounding all that bothered by the fact that they were being shot at. Mel quickly looked that way, spotting it immediately.

Kaleth didn't say anything. Instead, he sent back something like telepathic approval, which only made Mel flap his wings faster. Another cry was heard from somewhere behind them as well as the sounds of an Eternal crashing to the ground, but Mel blocked it all out. Instead, he focused all his efforts on just getting to that crevasse.

He could see one of the Eternals ahead of him disappear inside the crack in the mountain, then another, then another.... Just as he was about to get inside as well, Mel slowed down as he heard Kaleth's exhausted voice in his head.

Have to wait for...the others, he said with great difficulty. But Mel didn't care right now. All he wanted was to get Kaleth away from the bullets, so Mel didn't hesitate and leaped into the crevasse.

He could feel Kaleth's shock at Mel ignoring him, but he also seemed to be too tired to actually protest as he leaned on the back of Mel's neck and tried to get his breathing under control.

The crevasse turned out to be very deep, but it was also quite spacious, so Mel didn't have to worry about his wings or Kaleth getting hit by a rock. He landed about a few seconds later on the hard rock floor with a soft thump, moving out of the way as other Eternals arrived.

Kaleth, with some difficulty, managed to climb off Mel's back, but he had to lean on Mel to avoid falling.

"Dammit, Mel," Kaleth muttered, breathing heavily as he threw his goggles away. Mel cringed a little at the loud noise they had made but hugged Kaleth with his wing to steady him regardless. However, Kaleth pushed the wing away just as fast. And that simple action hurt more than Mel could have imagined.

"Why did you do that?" Kaleth snapped at him, still a little out of breath, and Mel shrunk away. "Who knows how many Eternals we just lost because I wasn't there to help them?"

Mel opened his mouth to defend himself, but Kaleth didn't give him the space to do so.

"Out here, you follow my orders. Is that understood?" Kaleth said coldly, his eyes flashing with that horrible golden glow. Feeling his eyes sting, Mel looked down at his feet. He'd been yelled at by plenty of people in his life, but it had never caused him as much pain as it was causing right now.

"I just didn't want you to get hurt," Mel whispered. He didn't wait for Kaleth to react and instead headed farther into the crevasse. He didn't think he could handle it if Kaleth yelled at him some more.

When he was far enough, Mel turned around and lied down, dejectedly watching from afar as other Eternals landed one after the other while doing his best not to look at Kaleth. Despite not liking that Kaleth was angry with him, Mel still stood by what he'd done, though. Kaleth might not think so, but Mel certainly did. He just didn't have the courage to say so.

Once he noticed that no more Eternals had joined them in about a minute, Mel silently counted them. There seemed to be eighteen of them, including him, but that could mean anything. There were still a lot of them that had gone with Mereria and Rayni, and they had no idea where they were right now. And even if some Eternals weren't with them or Rayni, they could be hiding somewhere else.

"How many did we lose?" Kaleth asked an Eternal Mel was very familiar with, one of Relioth's highest ranking officers called Lanyr. He was dark blue and feathered—a rather strange sight, but not unheard of. Mel had never seen him in his dragon form before.

"At least eight," he replied carelessly, stretching his wings. "And five of them died because a certain someone didn't wait for them." Lanyr looked directly at Mel, his looks of indifference suddenly gone. He seemed to be enjoying how he made Mel shrink, a little too much. "If you need someone to teach him a lesson in discipline—"

Mel could barely blink before Kaleth had his sword at Lanyr's neck.

"Leave him be," he growled at the Eternal, who looked pleased by this development for some reason. Mel just watched the scene, unsure if he should feel touched that Kaleth was defending him even though he'd yelled at him just minutes prior for the same thing, or scared by how murderous he was being about it. The way the others were glancing at Mel didn't help either.

"Good," Lanyr drawled. "That anger, that hate...savor it. Use it. You'll need it to defeat Irif."

"Must you always be so dramatic, Lanyr?" asked Kaleth with annoyance as he sheathed his sword again. Lanyr snorted as he slowly circled him.

"You are the one who just threatened me with a sword," Lanyr reminded Kaleth who just rolled his eyes. It made Mel wonder just how well the two knew each other. They didn't seem to like each other, though. That made Mel feel better. He didn't want to imagine a reality where Kaleth and Lanyr got along.

"Nevermind," said Lanyr when Kaleth didn't admit he was wrong. "Does anyone have any ideas on how to get past the forest?"

Lanyr folded his wings and swung his tail as he turned to the other Eternals, some of which came forward and started to brainstorm ideas. Kaleth didn't seem to be all that interested in their ideas, however. In fact, to Mel, it seemed like he was just waiting for them to stop talking so he could share his own idea.

"We need to scout the area first," Kaleth finally said, interrupting the conversation. "No doubt Irif's soldiers have already started moving toward us, but we might be able to use that to our advantage since they don't know where we are. If we figure out where they are searching for us, we may find an opening."

Lanyr shrugged. "Well, you are the one in charge." He then proceeded to tell three other Eternals to go outside to assess the situation. Mel didn't know them, but since Kaleth had no problem with them, he guessed that they were competent.

Mel sighed and put his head on the ground, closing his eyes for a moment. There was nothing to do but wait. But he really hated waiting during situations like this. Mel just wanted to be done here and go back to Enoria, but unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen for a while.