Desert Lily

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Kaisen

Once I had fully adjusted Lily back onto my back, we slowly descended the tree much to my dismay. Whatever was following us had finally made itself known as I could feel its presence waiting at the bottom for us. Lily decided that it would be best if we lowered down using her powers since it'd be easier to hoist us back up quickly. "I only agreed because it'd be easier for you to get back up the tree first while I distract the beast." I grunted as Lily hummed in reply while I kept my eyes on the unmoving presence who's scent was shielded by the heavy onslaught of rain.

"Yes, darling. I understand." She nonchalantly answered while leaning on me so that she could get a better view past my head. "Don't you feel this overwhelming sense of familiarity consuming you the closer we get?" She asked while laying her head on my shoulder as I nodded. She was right about the overwhelming feeling but nobody we knew would be able to step foot in here as long as we were doing our ritual. "We're here." She whispered as the vines finally reached the ground before I unhooked my foot. Making sure we weren't tangled up in anything, I handed the vine back to Lily as I gently lowered her against the tree with my back to her for protection. Slowly pulling out the dense bone knives, I carefully moved towards the presence I felt.

"Do you have a good grasp around it?" I called back to my mate who gently tapped a vine against my shoe. In case of an attack, we'd follow Lily's plans and use her powers and any of the makeshift weapons to our disposal. Slowly getting low to the ground, I grew closer to the overbearing familiarity before Lily yelled out something as something came barreling towards me.

"Got it!" She yelled as I could hear and feel the vines quickly shift past me before something large hit the ground near me. "What is it, darling?" She called out as I quickly approached the beast wrapped in vines before relaxing. Wrapped up in vines was a smaller yet familiar Sran. Had it not been for the familiar beige color mixed in with darker shades of green, I wouldn't have recognized it. Quickly jogging back to Lily, I quickly picked her up and adjusted her back onto my back while hurrying to our captured Sran. "You startled me, darling. But, what's the hurry? Is it a threat? Shouldn't we be running away from it?" She frantically asked as I gently patted her thighs. As I stopped in front of the culprit following us, I couldn't help but smile at what I saw.

"Release it, my love. It will do us no harm." I stated as the medium size Sran made no noise but slowly moved its tail. As the vines slowly slid off the Sran, it quickly lept towards us. "Sit." I firmly commanded as the Sran tumbled over its feet before sitting down in front of us. "My love, if I'm right, this would be one of Neau's babies." I explained as she softly gasped from behind me. "That would explain her disappearance and her sudden growth. Srans usually go off and mate but they never really bring back their little ones until they're older. I guess this little one knew our scent from its mom." I laughed as Lily tapped my shoulder. "Yes, my love?"

"I think this is Apia's gift, the gift of togetherness. Maybe this little one can take us to where we need to go. With the way we're traveling now, it'll take us a while to transverse through the trees with this weather." She explained as I slowly pieced it all together before nodding. Who knew such useful gifts would be given to us. Quickly looking over the Sran, I nodded in thought. He was big enough to carry one of us comfortably. I thought to myself while slowly letting down Lily as she held my arm for support.

"This little one can only carry one of us so I'm going to set you up on its back then we'll leave." I explained while turning to look at her as she quickly nodded. I picked her up and placed her on its back as the Sran happily tapped its tail against the ground. Just as I was about to tap the Sran to go, it lifted its head high before letting out a soft clicking. Lily quickly turned and looked at me with panic on her beautiful drenched face.

"What's going on?" She asked while reaching out her left hand towards me as I grasped her hand and kissed it. Before I could open my mouth to explain to her, a few more familiar Srans popped out from trees around us much to my surprise. They had masked themselves well amongst the rain. Like the first one, they happily ran towards us as my mate's panic grew before she tried to take back her hand.

"Lilium, they're not going to hurt us. They're actually quite happy." I explained as the five medium sized Srans stopped in front of us. They must've been watching when I commanded the first one. "Now, I guess we can go on our way. Oh! Could you get me down two vines and make them long for me?" I asked as she looked at me suspiciously before nodding. Releasing her hand, she quickly raised it over her head as the vines slowly lowered from the trees. Once I got the right length, I quickly cut off a few with one of the bone knives before tying them together. "Okay, my love, I've made reigns for us to use on the Srans." I explained while fitting hers with the fixed up vines as her sran let out a happy yip.

"Is it happy?" She asked as I quietly laughed while nodding before showing her how to use the reigns. "It's just like Neau but a little smaller and more excitable. Will it be okay with these reigns?" She gently reached down and patted its back. It seemed to have really taken a liking to her as it let out another happy yip.

"Seems pretty happy to me." I smiled while setting up my Sran who huffed before lowering down for me. "We should get moving." As I adjusted myself on the back of the Sran, I almost missed the way they looked at each other just as they took off. "Woah there!" I called out over the heavy rain as Lily's laughter filled my ears.

[~~~]

The Srans had been running for a while now, ditching and dodging between the trees. Like their mother, they were excitable and quick on their feet. All around us were the other babies of Neau, keeping up their pace like it was a race amongst siblings.

"You sure they know?" Lily yelled as I glanced over at her. She had laid down on the Sran as the further we went, the more vines hung low.

"I'm not sure but I hope so!" I yelled back to her as one of the Srans quickly ran past us followed by another one. It wasn't long before a high shrill echoed somewhere from the right of us as our Srans kept running. Looking back, I was greeted by the excited faces of the other two Srans who left room for us to run but still kept up in case something tried to attack.

"What was that?" Lily yelled out as I turned my attention back to her before another call came from in front of us. It sounded like one of the other Srans. I thought to myself as Lily's Sran let out a short screech before both sped up. "Darling!" She called out as I guessed that the siblings were talking to each other.

"It's the siblings talking to each other, my love! I'm not sure what they're saying but it might be important!" I replied as the trees around us started growing denser and thinning out. The faint sound of rushing water quietly filled my ears as the rain seemed to slowly let up. "We must be close." I smiled as the sound of running water grew closer and louder before the other two Srans came into view. They were standing by the edge of a river that seemed to have come out of nowhere. The river seemed to have cut off at a cliff yet our Srans weren't slowing down. "Hold on tight!" I yelled as the Srans jumped off the cliff before sprouting out their wings. They soared through the air and further down into the mist as I laid close to my Sran, hoping this would be over soon.