She had no intention of actually falling asleep, but Bel seemed to have that way with things. Things that made people do what she wanted without her needing to tell them.
It wasn’t magic.
At least, not magic that Kitalia knew anyway.
It was just the way she said things in that comforting, grandmotherly voice that she used. It was no wonder that Kre hung on her every word. The poor farm-boy probably never had a figure like that in his life, living in the Tehynshin outskirts like he did. From the little that Kitalia knew about the area Kre came from, life for the Tehynshins wasn’t easy and involved quite a lot of work just to get by.
While an Ylveryan elder might succeed in this kind of setting, being wiser to the ways of the world and revered for the skills and knowledge they bring to the community; a Tehynshin elder was frail and believed that they deserved a soft life after their years of labor. Just one more difference between their two cultures that seemed to forever widen the rift between their two peoples.
Still, despite those differences… or maybe because of them, Kitalia actually thought well of the awkward Tehynshin boy.
“Morning child,” came the lilting chirp from across their small campsite.
Oh, how she resented that woman. Dragon. Whatever she was.
Still… “Morning Bel,” Kitalia said warmly. Resentment was all fine and good, but it didn’t serve her purposes to show it.
“I left you some bread there, by the embers, so it should be nice and warm.”
Kitalia nodded her thanks and packed her bags before she reached for the offered breakfast. It was just as Bel had promised, a piece of flat travel bread, nice and warm, with a hint of salty creaminess that indicated the older woman had buttered it. What’s more, Bel had used the exact amount that Kitalia liked. Not so much that it was seeping out of the sides, and not so little that it only served for a single bite, but just a light swipe across one side.
“Will we be… striding, like we did before?” she asked.
Bel nodded. “Whenever you’re ready. I have everything prepared and I’m hopeful that we will meet up with Kre before too long.”
“You look concerned,” Kitalia said as she slipped her pack on.
Bel nodded. “I tried to reach out to Kre last night, in his dreams. I hoped to coordinate our reunion better, but I could not find him.”
There wasn’t much Kitalia could say in response to that. There was a lot about Bel’s powers that she didn’t understand.
“No matter,” Bel smiled, “we’ll see him soon enough. At least we’ll be in the right area and can explore from there if we need to.”
Kitalia chuckled, “You mean, so we can help him if we find him in some kind of trouble?”
Another nod from the dragon. “Are you ready? It will be a strenuous walk, so best steel yourself for it.”
Kitalia took her place behind Bel and reached her hand forward. “Ready,” she called out, her voice a little shaky from the thought of experiencing dragon magic once more.